The Flames of Infernis
by Akoue
Summary: Based on a DnD campaign: At the dawn of a new era for the Jedi order, children are being 'inducted' into the order from all over the galaxy, taken away from their families to join in the fight against Darth Krayt and Ronan Fel. An already dark time in the Jedi history will soon be overshadowed by an ancient being known as Infernis who would see the entire galaxy burn before him.
1. Chapter 1

This story is dedicated to the dreamers who step into a new world and risk it all on a roll of the dice. The events in this story were played out with my group under a wonderful DM who shared this world with us. Each moment of this story was dictated by a roll, good or bad, and led to a finale over a year in the making. I hope you enjoy it.

 **Star Wars: The Flames of Infernis**

By: Alex, Ashley, Corey, Sam, and James

The sand scorched the flesh of the Miraluka as he wandered through the desert planet in search of scrap to sell for food. He rubbed his bandaged eyes, following just the faint glimmer of light he saw in the distant. Being a Miraluka he saw differently than the rest of the world, and in the distance he figured there was a chance he could find something. He was scrounging around the broken wreckage when he was nearly blinded by two figured who radiated pure force energy.

"Would you like us to show you how to see with new eyes?"

The boy was led by the two men one named Wolf Saizen, a Zabrak, and the other a Twi'lek named Shado Vao to a starship they called the Secret Runner. Upon boarding the vessel the young Miraluka was greeted by sounds of crying and some of high pitched laughs. Before he could truly adjust Shado Vao quickly left to go fly the ship while Wolf Saizen was left to baby sit. He led the boy to the kitchen area as the others were hungry.

The boy had barely begun to get his bearings when two new lights appeared, female and both…very, pink.

"HI! I'm Luca, this is Anoxa who are you? What are you? Are you blind? Can you see me this do this?" There were two of them, Zeltrons both the same age and both smaller than him. Luca was the one on the right, and Anoxa the one on the left. Despite their same age, Anoxa was slightly taller than Luca, her skin a slightly lighter shade of pink.

"I'm…I'm Vicker. I'm a Miraluka what are you? Who are you?"

"I just said that! I'm Luca and this is Anoxa!"

"Hello! We're Zeltrons! Are you part of our field trip too? Well I don't actually know if this is a field trip anymore, but they promised us cookies!" Anoxa said with a wide smile.

"Yeah, but we still haven't seen any!" Luca huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh! Vic! Before we forget the quiet one here is Serephina." With that she pointed to the human girl with brown hair reading in the corner with a data pad. The girl looked up, waved and then went back to her book. "I think she's blind in the voice department."

"You mean mute?" Vicer suggested.

"That's the one! So Vic, did you have parents that you were kidnapped from too? Cause I'm fairly certain we're never seeing them again." Luca laughed, but there was a bit of nervousness and fear to it as well. She was fairly certain they were all about to be forced into some sort of labor thing or school and then be sold off and or killed! Death to all of them!

Anoxa seemed to realize at the same moment that their parents did not know where they were. They were supposed to be on a field trip when everything took place and now…now they were in space several days away from their home world and their parents and they still hadn't gotten cookies. Seraphina was still ignoring them for books when everyone watched as pots and pans began to float around in the air. The few kids that were crying stopped as all eyes watched Wolf Sazen who masterfully spun things around to distract the kids.

"Now, dry those eyes," he smirked. "We're making cookies!"

"Cookies with space magic!?" Luca asked excitedly.

"Well, not entirely. This is the force," he explained.

"Space magic!" She shouted eagerly. "Can we do that?"

"Not yet, but give it time you just have to-"

Luca threw up her hands and focused on what he was doing as suddenly one of his floating plates shot out of the air and embedded itself into the wall. "I'm a space wizard!"

"Me next! I want to try! I want to try!" Anoxa said and held her hands out but a dumbstruck Wolf Sazen gently took her hands.

"No! No, no," he told her with a smile as he looked Luca who was grinning widely. How a child who had no idea what the force was managed to do that was beyond him. Truly this was a special lot. "For now just watch me do the space mag- I mean, watch me use the force. All of you will properly learn to use it in time."

"The force?" Vic asked him.

"Yes, the force is the power which binds all living things. It is what helps you to see young one, and allows me to move these objects."

"So you're a magic space wizard," Luca whispered in reverence. "And we can become space wizards too!"

Clearly he should have opened with that… Next time when you're "recruiting" children, start with the force and work your way into wizards. He sighed a bit as he began to prepare a meal for them. When did it come to this? Kidnapping children to create a new generation of Jedi? How far the order had fallen...

He made a dish of some of his native foods and passed them around to the children. Some people took to it like the taller Zeltron and Seraphina, the Miraluka seemed to have some trouble and the smaller Zeltron was acting like it was poison. He could tell she was going to be a handful and before she could start anything he waved his hand as he moved behind her. "You love this food."

"I love this food," Luca whispered, almost mesmerized as she began to eat.

Space magic one, children zero. Wolf Sazen smiled to himself. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad after all. Four days passed on a ship full of children traveling at light speed through the cosmos to their secret base and Shado Vao did not leave the cockpit the entire time. Sazen was tired and growing ever closer to the dark side dealing with children who were just starting to tap into the force. Thankfully, they arrived and he guided the children to some of the windows to watch as they flew toward an asteroid.

"We're going to die!" Luca said as she grabbed Anoxa protectively and pulled her head down as if to shield her with her small frame.

"What? What's going on?" Vic asked, completely unaware of the enormous asteroid they were about to crash into.

"The wizards are going to kill us!"

"We're flying into it," Seraphina said as she pointed to the small opening.

Luca nearly dropped Anoxa. "You can talk!"

The small ship flew through the asteroid and dodged rocks and metal as it entered into an enormous opening where colossal ships were docked together, forming an intricate base of sorts as the ships themselves were repurposed into homes, schools, and training areas.

Vic pressed to the glass, as never before had he seen so much light in one spot. "It's beautiful..."

"It's okay," Anoxa shrugged, obviously not seeing what he was seeing. She then reached up and tugged on Wolf Saizen sleeve. "Can we eat now?"

Youth was wasted on the young. "Not now, now we show you your new home."

Once the Secret Runner was docked, the group of kids were led by Sazen to a chamber hall where they were greeted by an older looking man who was blindingly bright to young Vic. "This is grand master Skywalker."

"Children, I am so pleased to meet you," he smiled. "I can sense that you all have great promise within you to become great Jedi."

"Jedi?" Anoxa asked.

"Space Wizards," Luca whispered.

"So, you're all Jedi?" Seraphina asked, seemingly the only one of the kids which knew what was going on. "And you...you're a Skywalker?"

The Grand Master smiled. "I am glad to see that some young ones still know about the Skywalker line and the Jedi."

"This is cool and all, but when are we going back to our parents?" Anoxa asked.

Skywalker knelt down and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm afraid you won't be going back. We are your family now."

"So...this is a kidnapping," Luca said slowly as she confirmed her worst fears.

"What did you think it was?" Seraphina asked.

The two Zeltron's shrugged. Really and truly, they hadn't put too much thought in it. They had mostly been having fun, which is what Zeltron's do. Consequences be damned!

"Come; let Master Solan show you around." As Grand Master Skywalker said that, another master came to them and smiled. He took the children and began to show them around, wanting them to grow acquainted with their new home. He showed them training rooms, bed rooms, and a gardening area where fresh food was grown. He took his time, making certain they felt comfortable there before showing them to their rooms. Seraphina and Vic each had their own rooms to themselves, but the two Zeltrons wanted to share a room as they couldn't bare to be separated from each other. Once they had claimed what room they desired Master Solan let them explore on their own, only instructing them not to go into any rooms which were locked. He wasn't worried though as the children couldn't get into them anyways.

With some freedom, they began to explore this strange place that they now found themselves in. The four children had formed a bond during their starship ride, and had decided to remain close to each other as they explored the new place. They went from area to area, taking the time to try to remember it. At least Seraphina did, the other three were content in using her as a map on how to get back to their rooms. They had come to a few locked doors, but it wasn't until they came to one with symbols on it that Luca made them stop. "Let's open it!" Luca grinned.

"But it's locked," Vic said.

"Exactly! Let's open it!" She held her hand out and closed her eyes. She was starting to get a good idea about how this magic worked. She could feel the door starting to push open, but her brow furrowed as she couldn't get it quite open. Anoxa reached out and slipped her hand in Luca's as she mimicked her movements. Together they felt the 'magic' within them begin to focus on the doors. There was a strain as clearly the door didn't want to open for them, but their powers intertwined as together Luca focused on the right door and Anoxa focused on the left as the doors slowly began to open with a hiss.

"Look! We did it!" Luca raced inside like a blur while Anoxa and Vic slowly entered after her. Seraphina watched them for a moment, shook her head and then slowly started back to her room.

The room was a training room of some sort. It had a lot of black mechanical orb things and a locker on the far corner. Luca was the first one in and she grabbed one of the orbs and shook it curiously. As soon as she did the thing hummed to life and took off into the air.

"Cool! Look at it!" she smiled and watched as the thing twisted around and suddenly fired a bolt into the locker, blasting it open and dropping what looked like handles onto the ground. It then focused on the child who activated it and fired a blast at her. Luca barely managed to dodge it out of pure shock. "Hey! That's not nice! Stop that!"

It fired again and again, scaring Luca who kept dodging it. Anoxa saw the items on the ground and remembered seeing the Jedi with them on their belts. She used the force and pulled it into her hand. For a split second she was excited as she plucked it out of the air, but then as she went to activate it she stared down at the handle with a frown. What did she- There was a loud shocking sound as she suddenly hit the ground.

"Anoxa!" Luca yelled. Vic was shocked at what just happened and he moved to help the small girl, but when he did the orb fired at him.

Luca held her hand out and the weapon shook on the ground for a second before it flew into her hand. Through sheer luck she activated it in a fluid motion and began to wave it around as she focused the device on her. "Hey! Leave them alone!" She lunged and swung at it, batting the orb away. "Grab her and get out of here!"

Vic didn't need any more encouragement. He grabbed Anoxa and pulled her out while Luca kept the thing at bay. One of the shots from it grazed Luca's shoulder, causing her to whimper in pain but somehow she held onto the weapon to defend herself. As the orb went to fire again it was suddenly cut in half as a true lightsaber was swung through the air. Luca watched in awe as Salon saved her. She was about to thank him and praise him when she remembered Anoxa. Quickly she rushed out to her where Vic was shaking her, trying to wake her. Seraphina was there as well, the reason that Solan had been alerted to what was going on.

"Is she going to be okay?" Luca asked with tears in her eyes.

"She is unconscious and will have a headache, but yes she will be okay little one," Master Solan told her. He picked up Anoxa and led Luca with him as well as the others to the medical bay. Anoxa was gently laid down for the medical droid to look over and the other two were told to go back to their rooms while young Luca was taken to some of the masters to speak with about her using the force. Luca waved sadly to her friends. The wizards were going to punish her!

Anoxa woke up with a headache which pulsed through her entire skull threatening to split it in tw. She remembered a fight and then pain and darkness. Slowly she opened her eyes and stared up into the emotionless and horrifying face of a medical droid.

"Are you satisfied with your care?" It asked her as it held a needle up above her and moved to press it to her face.

Anoxa's scream could be heard throughout the asteroid. The small group of kids moved in to check on her as she sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the droid. "Are you okay?" Vic asked her.

"That thing is trying to kill me by making me well!"

"It's just a medical droid," Seraphina told her. "You got a bad zap from a training saber."

"But you're okay now. So everything is okay now. Everything's okay," Luca nodded quickly. Her eyes were wide and she looked a bit scared, but she wouldn't talk about what the master's said to her.

"Can I get out of here?" she asked in a whisper while the medical droid was looking at something else. Quickly the children slipped her out of the room.

The next few days were allowed for the kids to fall into routine. They had adjusted to their new home somewhat and had spent time with the other kids. There were a lot of kids there actually as more and more masters came with more children. Eventually though, Master Solan called them to begin their training to start on the path of the Jedi. He sat down in a meditative pose and instructed the children to do the same. Vic seemed the most natural to it, getting comfortable and falling into a rhythm. Anoxa was the next and finally Luca. Seraphina got in the pose...and was reading a data pad.

"Meditation will allow you to focus on the force," he explained without opening his eyes. "The purpose of this is to enter a meditative state so that you can see the force."

"What if we can already see it?" Vic asked.

"Then, you learn to see it better," he smirked.

For a few days, that was all that they did. For Vic, the meditation seemed to come natural to him as he had no problem sitting still for hours upon hours and focus on the force. He seemed to be adept at whatever was required of the force. No matter the technique it seemed to come to him as a second nature, much to the envy of his classmates. Even Seraphina, when she was forced to do it, gave way and found that sitting quiet and focusing on the force, was not much different from reading. For her, it was a breathtaking experience as for the first time she saw a bit of what Vic saw. She saw beautiful lights radiating from everyone there. Colors so sparkling and different, that even without seeing their true form she could tell everyone apart from just their aura.

"It's amazing," she said as the four of them sat down to eat. "Vic, what you see is amazing."

"For me, that's just life," he shrugged, but smiled just the same. Always take a compliment from what you assume to be a beautiful girl! "I think that's why it's so easy for me to use the force. It's always been a part of me."

"I want to see the colors," Anoxa said with a pout. "But sitting still for hours is so boring, I don't know how you guys do it!"

"It's not that bad. When you start doing it and really focusing, the hours just seem to disappear," Seraphina explained. "I've read some books on meditation and the force. They say that if you focus enough you can even see the future."

"I wanna see the future," Luca said slowly.

"Then you have to meditate," Vic said with a nod.

The girls looked together and sighed and after lunch they took their seats and this time really focused. That day, nothing happened, but with each passing day they eventually began to relax more and were able to sit for longer periods of times. Being empaths, whether they knew it or not, they were slowly learning to draw upon the relaxing nature and calmness of those around them.

Anoxa was the next to be able to see the colors and nearly broke her meditation when they began to appear. Seeing them was like seeing the world for the first time, and afterward that was all she could talk about. Luca took another week before she caught up to the others and was able to experience the same thing. It was an odd sensation, seeing the world through colors and the force; and all three of them had a new appreciation for Vic because of it.

As they grew more and more accustomed to using the force and meditating with it, eventually they did in fact begin to see visions. At first it was just small things, glimpses of actions that they took place in, things that people were going to say to them. Very rarely did they ever see anything that transpired more than hour or perhaps a day away from their natural time. It was rather surreal and exciting to be able to see brief glimpses of what was to come. That little bit of power spurred the children further to using their powers when not in class. Luca and Anoxa in particular became rather good and using this far sight ability, especially when they held hands and focused together.

"Bet you we can find out what's going to happen tomorrow!" Luca said brazenly as the four of them sat together in the library. Really, Seraphina was in the library and the other three decided to bug her.

"Give it a shot. I bet you can't!"

Luca was never one to back away from a challenge so she grabbed Anoxa's hands. "You ready?"

"Yeah!"

They closed their eyes and meditated for a while so that Seraphina could read in peace and Vic could go try to talk to some of the others girls that were there. As the Zeltron's focused on the future, the two entered a rather deep trance. They had been practicing it so much, their bodies fell into a unison with the force and for the first time they actually did see past that day.

The girls seemed to walk along the hallway of the one of the classrooms. There was fire and screaming and they smelled something in the air but couldn't tell what it was. The room was getting hotter and the screaming was getting louder, so much so that the girls covered their ears to try to block out the sound. From the fire and the chaos they saw blood splatter the ground as a master fell dead at their feet. Looking up from the blood soaked ground they saw a form with glowing red sabers walking toward them. Though they couldn't make out a form, they did see several lightsabers activate at once as another form entered the fray. Seven light sabers floated around and moved in unison as the two forms locked in deadly combat. The girls huddled together, the blood from the other dead master soaking their feet as they watched the one with the seven lightsabers begin to falter as each one of his blades was destroyed. Finally the figure with red blades sliced through the other and as his body hit the ground the girls snapped out of the daze, each one screaming as if they were the ones who had been stabbed.

All eyes looked at the two girls as they had turned pale and were breathing heavily.

"You okay?" Vic asked as he walked back to them. He could tell by the way that their aura had changed that something was wrong.

"We...we need to talk to Master Solan," Luca said as she held her stomach, feeling very sick all of a sudden.

She stood, still holding Anoxa's hand as the two of them hurried off.

"I wonder what all that is about," Seraphina mused. The two of them were always a little off to her, but she had never seen them scared before. She looked to Vic who seemed to share her concern for them. The little Zeltron's were a few years younger than them, so they felt a bit protective of them. Without saying a word, they nodded to each other and headed after them to make certain they were okay.

The girls had wandered around for a bit before they found Master Solan. "Master Solan!" Anoxa said quickly when she saw him. "We saw something! Something bad!"

Solan looked to them in confusion. "Easy there." He knelt down so that he was at their level. "What happened what did you see?"

"We were using far seeing," she started to explain.

"Because Vic said we couldn't see to tomorrow!" Luca added.

"So we did what we usually do and meditate together."

"Because we are stronger together!"

"But this time when we meditated something happened. We saw something awful. There was blood and fire and screaming."

"People were dying and there was some dark figure with red lightsabers!"

Solan tried to keep his expression calm, but the girls could feel the change in his mood as if a deep sadness had overtaken him. "It is okay girls," he assured her. "You are safe here."

"But the vision..." Anoxa said softly.

"These visions are not absolute. They are but things which might come to pass. The mere fact that you have seen into the future can alter it. Thank you for telling me this, if you see anymore visions like this let me know." He smiled at them and rubbed each of their worried faces. "Go and play, okay? We will keep you safe."

"But...who are the red lightsabers? Why would they hurt people?" Luca asked.

"They're the Sith," Seraphina whispered from the door where she and Vic stood, having overheard everything.

Vic looked to her, curious about them as well as they hadn't been covered yet. "Sith?"

She nodded and looked to their master. "To everything there is a light and a dark side. Like two sides of the same coin."

"If the Jedi are the light side," Anoxa began.

"Then the Sith are the dark side," Luca finished as she looked to Master Solan. "Master, the Sith want to hurt us?"

"They do little one," he said softly. "But that is why you are here. We are going to train you, to make you strong in the force so that you can defend yourself."

"But why do they want to hurt us?"

"That is a complicated question, I'm afraid. The Sith and Jedi have been enemies for as long as there has been a light and a dark side. Our ideologies are different, our beliefs are different, and we are different."

"But even though we're different, why can't we get along?" Vic asked.

"Because people are stuck in their ways, but perhaps that is something you children can change. Do not worry about what is to come. Go get some snacks and rest. Tomorrow will be a busy day and worrying solves nothing." He waved them off, wishing he could give them more comforting words; but the truth was, that these children would likely see horrors that they never would have because the Jedi had entered their lives. These children's lives were in their hands. Their fates had been altered because of the actions of the Jedi. What good could the Jedi be if they were destroying the lives of innocent children?

One by one the kids left, but Luca stopped at the door and looked back at him. "Master?"

"Yes Luca?"

"Will one day we have to kill people?"

Solan's jaw dropped slightly. No. That was the answer he should have given. That was the answer he wanted to give her some comfort and tell her no. A Jedi wasn't a killer. A Jedi was someone who protected others. Someone who brought peace. Yet in this day and age to survive a Jedi had to fight. A Jedi had to kill. There was no place for pacifists in the Jedi order...not anymore. Still, as he looked into this child's wide eyes he hoped that perhaps that could change. "Grow strong Luca, that way you don't have to," he smiled.

Whether or not Luca understood the meaning to his words, she nodded as if she did and then hurried off. Solan sighed and relaxed once they were gone. He waited a minute to collect his thoughts and then hurried to speak with the Grand Master.

For a while, this was their life. Days turned into months as their training progressed all under Master Solan's watchful eye. The home sick young children soon became strong willed youngling who were developing their own personalities and ideas. They were growing stronger in the force and more powerful every day, a fact which he was all too proud of. Though he refused to admit it, he had grown fond of his first batch of younglings to train. They were his favorites, even though they could be trying at times. They were his First Order, a nickname which he had often called them in secret, but something they had overheard and had taken a liking to it. They wore that name like a badge of pride. The older they got, the more their personalities shined through in everything that they did. He had no doubt that they would surpass him in power and one day prove to be masters themselves. They had grown accustomed to their life with the Jedi, and in time they had truly become a part of them. Eventually after years of practicing with the force and training their bodies, the pupils were brought before a door which they remembered all too well.

"The forbidden door," Luca whispered to herself and shuddered at the thought of the masters all staring at her with their haunting eyes.

"Yes, the forbidden door," Solan smirked. "But today, it is no longer forbidden. Today you finally take your rightful step toward becoming Padawans. To that degree you will each be given a training saber which you practice with. You will train until it becomes a natural reflection of who you are." He glanced at Luca who stared at them. "Even if you don't like violence, a lightsaber is a tool just as much about defending someone as it is about attacking."

He picked up for sabers and set each one in the hands of his students. "Go ahead, give them a try."

Luca activated hers immediately and moved it around with incredible ease as if she was born to use one. Solan watched her with an approving nod as she gracefully flipped it and twirled it around her body, already acting as if it was an extension of herself. "It's lighter than I remember..." She still didn't like it though, she didn't like what it had done or could do.

"That is because you have become stronger." He then watched as Vic and Seraphina activated theirs almost at the same time. Neither had held one before, so they didn't take to it as naturally as Luca did, but both seemed to catch on quickly. He watched as Vic took a very aggressive stance to begin, but then paused and shook his head as if he reconsidered. Seraphina, however, twirled her blade around, getting a good feel for it.

"I like it," she said with a firm nod. "This...this feels right."

"Good," he smiled. He then placed his hand on Anoxa's shoulder as she had yet to activate hers. "Go ahead, Anoxa. You will do much better this time, I promise."

Anoxa was hesitant to use one again, she wasn't about to get hurt again! She didn't want to see the medical droid ever again! Slowly she held her arm out, far away from her body as she activated it. Letting out a sigh of relief when nothing bad happened she began to carefully move it around.

"Now that you have gotten acquainted with the basics of your training saber, I will show you the cadences and we will begin your training with a blade." As he said this he activated his very real lightsaber and began to show them the beginning moves. He was a bit amused by the group and how they worked together. Luca seemed to pick up the lightsaber very quickly and as soon as she learned a stance she moved to help Anoxa master it. Seraphina did much the same with Vic, assisting him much as he assisted her when it came to force powers. Each of the children seemed to have their specialties to some degree; and when one of them fell behind rather than leaving them they worked together to build them up. He knew the day would come when they would be split apart to train under different masters; but he intended to speak with the masters as he strongly believed this group would work best with each other...after the proper training of course.

A few days of training and promises not use them let the young padawans carry their training sabers with them at all times to prepare them for the responsibility of carrying real ones. It was on one of their rare off days when Anoxa was wandering the halls looking at the new kids which were coming in. She saw a small Rodian boy who had a bruised cheek and was crying.

"Hey, what's wrong little guy?" Anoxa asked as she took a seat beside him.

"N-nothing," he said in between sobs.

"It's okay, you can talk to me, I promise." As she said this, some of her pheromones moved around the boy to try to calm him. "I'm Anoxa, what's your name?"

"Kobak."

"Kobak, that's a cool name. Want to tell me what happened?"

"Some older kids were bullying me. They called me weak cause I couldn't fight back."

"What!? Someone was bullying you? Who? Where are they?"

"I don't know. They left, but one of them was a Twi'lek."

Anoxa didn't waste any time, she scooped up the young Rodian and searched for her friends with the force. Vic was off with some Twi'lek girl he was 'close' with, Seraphina was in the library studying new force techniques and combat techniques, and Luca was meditating in her room. She gathered each of them together, at this point panting from running all over while carrying the Rodian. "He got bullied. We need to help."

"We should tell the masters," Seraphina, always the voice of logic said.

"Or, or...we could find them," Luca said with a fire in her eyes. She smacked her hands together and nodded. "Yes! We will find them and bring them to the masters ourselves! C'mon!"

Before anyone could object she had already grabbed their hands and were pulling them along. "I don't even know what's going on anymore," Vic sighed.

Before they could get too far though, Anoxa saw Shado Vao and her eyes got big as she held Kobak close to her. He was a Twi'lek! "Is he the one that did this to you?" She asked in a hushed whisper while she eyed him suspiciously.

"N-no," he told her, looking at her and wondering why she thought a master would beat him up!

"Are you sure? You can tell me."

"I'm sure!"

"Well then...he's okay I guess," she huffed. She was about to walk toward him to explain to him the situation when Luca realized she and Kobak had dragged behind. Before she could do anything, Luca had grabbed her and pulled her along.

Vic used his extra sight to look through the walls before finding a group of padawans which seemed to match Kobak's description. He guided the others to them and upon drawing closer they saw the boys had bruises on their knuckles, obviously they were there from being in a fight.

Anoxa stepped forward. "Did you hurt him!?" She held out Kobak, dangling him in the air to indicate who she was talking about.

"So what if we did?" The Twi'lek asked with a huff. "He's just a brat."

"Brat!?" Anoxa sat him down and activated her training saber. "I will show you who the brat is."

The other boys reached for their training sabers as well. As soon as they did Luca held up her hand. "You will drop your weapons and turn yourselves in." Her eyes shined briefly as she felt the force mix with her pheromones and seem to wrap around the young boys. While it was invisible to all but Vic, he could see the arching pink lights wrap around them and encompass them as if a blanket of her thoughts and suggestions consumed them.

All at once the boys dropped their weapons and began to walk off to find a master.

"Yeah, that's right. Walk away!" Anoxa said as she tugged on the Twi'lek's lekku. That pain was enough to snap him out of Luca's amateur trance as he turned around and punched her in the face, breaking her nose. As soon as he did, Vic's saber smacked him in the back of the head, knocking him out.

Lucak looked down at Anoxa who held her bleeding nose.

"M-medical droid?" she asked with teary eyes.

Luca nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry Anoxa..."

After their success in solving the mystery of the bullies, Kobak became an additional tag along in their little group. While he was much younger than they were, they all treated him like one of them and Anoxa was always protective of him, often causing more harm than good to protect him.

As their training progressed in lightsaber forms, Solan finally pulled out the black orbs of death which they were all too familiar with. "Today, you will practice with these. As you are aware, they fly and shoot stun bolts. While painful, they are not deadly. Consider the zaps and incentive to do well."

Anoxa cowered as she saw them. She was just getting to the point where she was comfortable with these weapons and now they wanted her to fight that? Before she could protest, Solan had activated four of them and had them each target one of the students. "Have fun," he grinned and Seraphina could swear he almost looked pleased at the fact that they were about to suffer.

Blaster bolts began to rain down upon them, and some fared better than others. Seraphina in particular seemed to have a rather easy time predicting where the shots were going to come from and block them with her lightsaber. Though the more Solan watched her, the more he wondered if it was due to skill with the force, or because she was predicting the way the training bot would react and where it would fire. Either way, it was still impressive. As his eyes traveled over the others, he became alarmed as he watched Vic.

Vic blocked a few of the blasts, but as a few hit him his face scrunched up in anger. Before even Solan had a chance to react, Vic raised his hand up and a wave of pure force energy crushed the training bot and slammed it into the ground. Solan felt a cold shuddered as he stared at the now teenage young man. Vic had always had an affinity for the force, learning new techniques easily and mastering the basics of it to such a degree that he often helped others. But this time he drew from something darker, as if he could sense there was more out there than what he had been shown.

"Vic," Solan said as he walked amongst the fire toward him. "Why did you do that?"

"Because this is stupid," he huffed.

"Why?"

"We're going to battle, aren't we?" He looked up at him and his voice softened. "These are my friends Master...why would I spend time learning how to deflect shots when I could just destroy what was hurting us? Isn't that the easier way?"

"It might be the easier way, but that does not mean it is the right way," he told the boy as he placed his hand on his shoulder. "Your force powers are something to be admired, but with that power comes a choice to use them for good or evil. That feeling you possess right now, that tingle in your chest is a bit of darkness within you."

"Does that mean I'm bad?" he asked as his hand went up to his chest.

"Not at all," Solan promised. "It just means that you have felt the pull of the dark side, and now that you know it's call, it will be a part of you. But, even though it is a part of you, you can still be good. You can still walk the light. Whenever you feel that pull, resist it. Remember that more often than not, the easier way does not like to strength or power, it just leads to weakness. True power, is overcoming something and persevering." He nodded to the others who were blissfully unaware of what was going on. "Look at them. You want to protect these girls?"

"Well, yeah, of course."

"Good. Then follow the light. The darkness doesn't save lives, it only takes them." He activated another testing droid for him to spar against and much to his delight the young man began to spar with it as he was suppose to.

Another few years passed and eventually came the day where they were to spar together. A mere friendly test so that they could try out their abilities and fighting styles on each other. The young kids had become powerful young teenagers and in that time of training each one had developed along their own path. Solan had watched each of them and found it curious how this bunch seemed to shy away from the normal patterns of young Jedi. Seraphina spent most of her time studying the ways of the force and had tactical knowledge and combat. She would make an excellent Jedi Archivist, a keeper of the knowledge, if this was another age of Jedi; but this was war. She tempered her knowledge with combat training, often working on her own to harness her lightsaber abilities.

Anoxa was always Anoxa. Her fear of lightsabers had long since passed and from speaking with other masters the young one seemed to already know the path that she wanted to take. She hated seeing the weak picked on, and she thought that by growing stronger she could protect them all. She wanted to be a sentinel, and excel in purging the darkness from the world. He knew that her heart was in the right place, and within those smiles and laughter there beat the heart of what could be a great and powerful sentinel. With the right master, she could be molded into something the dark side feared.

Vic had heeded Solan's words the best that he could. While he still felt the darkness within him, he focused on the force. While he was decent with a lightsaber, his true power lied within the force. He spent all his free moments studying new techniques and new abilities. He would fight with the force, and bring a reckoning to whoever stood in his path. As long as the young man could remain on the side of the light, then Solan had no doubt that he would probably be more powerful than even some of the masters when it came to the force. He would watch as Vic would meditate for hours to gain a deeper understanding of the force. Though he also noticed that the young man was also starting to notice the females more...which were causing his studying to lapse on occasion.

Then there was Luca. He watched her and to him she was a mystery. Headstrong and determined to do things her own way, she had raw power in the force the likes of which he had never seen, but she didn't have the control that Vic had to properly master it. She was exceptionally skilled in lightsabers, and yet as he watched her she trained in martial arts. He had no idea how to instruct her in that, as he had never known a Jedi to use fists instead of a lightsaber. So she took it upon herself and devised a combat all on her own, an impressive feat for someone so young. She channeled the force into her attacks, allowing her to fight and not kill. She was resolved to be a pacifist in an age of war. He hoped that for her sake she was strong enough to make it a reality.

He brought them together staring at the teenagers with a smile as he prepared them for their sparring lesson. Seraphina was matched with Anoxa and Vic was matched with Luca. Seraphina did not choose to spar, however, feeling that Anoxa would just get hurt in the fight, and did not wish to hurt her friend.

Luca and Vic, however, thought it would be fun to spar. As soon as it began, Vic who was far more comfortable using the force than wielding a saber tried to take Luca's saber from her for an easy victory. He reached out with the force and got a smug grin on his face as he felt Luca's lightsaber fly out of her hands and toward him. He caught it with ease and was about to remark on why she let go so easily when he realized the small girl had already closed the space in between them in that one second. Before he could even react her fist collided with his chest and his frame buckled beneath the impact as he was sent crashing into the wall behind him. As soon as he landed she was right beside him to look him over. "You okay?"

"Can't...breath. So tiny, yet so much pain!" He gasped as he held his chest. He had expected his power in the force to make this battle over quickly, he'd never expected to be hit with a physical attack like that. Clearly there was more he needed to learn about close combat fighting.

Solan's jaw dropped slightly, not expecting the fight to be over that quickly. It seemed that while Vic did indeed have the superiority in the force, he worked under the assumption that without her lightsaber she would admit defeat. Were it any other Jedi he likely would have won with that attack.

Luca patted his head and looked from Seraphina to Anoxa. "Who wants to go next?"

"I don't see the point in sparring," Seraphina shrugged.

"C'mon, Anoxa, let's spar!"

Anoxa finally agreed and readied her saber. She quickly slashed at Luca, coming close several times to hitting her, but Luca didn't attack back, at least not at first. She smiled at her friend and kept encouraging her until Anoxa finally connected with a hit to Luca's side. Luca hissed in pain and stepped back.

"Sorry!" Anoxa said quickly.

"It's okay! You did good. This just really hurts!" She pouted, but Solan told them to continue. The next time Anoxa swung, Luca stepped up to her, and compared to what she did to Vic, she gave Anoxa a little love tap, pressing her open palm against Anoxa's chest and simply shoving her into a wall. Luca grimaced as Anoxa groaned in pain. "Are you okay?"

Anoxa gave her a thumbs up while whimpering.

"Alright, Seraphina, no more putting it off. Spar, it will be good for you. You are very skilled with sabers, but you need to experience fighting someone besides the training droids.

Seraphina sighed but nodded. She activated her saber as her and Luca began their match. Out of all three matches this one lasted the longest. Vic relied on the force more than a saber, and Anoxa was still working through her fear of them; but both Seraphina and Luca seemed completely at ease with them. Their blades connected several times, before Luca went in to finish Seraphina off. However, Seraphina had watched the previous matches. She saw that rather than attacking with a saber Luca always went in to punch them, so she was ready. As soon as Luca made her strike Seraphina lunged at her, side stepping her attack and smacking her full body with her training saber, causing Luca to crumble to the ground.

"Very good, Seraphina!" Solan said proudly.

Seraphina knelt down by her friend. "I didn't hurt you did I?"

"That was so awesome!" Luca groaned as she held her side and flashed her friend a pained smile.

Days passed some more and the teenagers founds themselves with a free day. Luca spent it in the training area, running around in next to nothing as she flipped, kicked, and punches targets which appeared. The training was meant for lightsabers, but her fists were infused with the force, allowing her to hit with enough force to send the targets flying back. She was drenched in sweat and landed with a huff as she watched the targets realign. She had to get better. She had to get stronger. With that thought she pushed herself to go another round.

Anoxa and Kobak sat together as he was asking for help in some of his classes. "So, this bottle thing about moving the air out of it, I don't get it."

"It's okay. It took us forever to get it to. We had to have Vic help us a bit in the beginning." She held out the bottle and focused and Kobak watched in amazement as all the colored air was pulled out of the bottle by the sheer skill of her ability with the force. She made it look so easy, and her smug grin made him all that much more amazed by her. "See? It's not so hard. We'll practice until you get it."

"Thanks! With your help, I've been doing a lot better."

"Anytime you need help I'll be there for you," she said as she rubbed his little head. "How are you doing with the training sabers?"

"Good. Sort of. I haven't really found a style I like yet."

"Give it time. It will come to you, or if it doesn't, just make your own. That's what Luca is doing." She paused and checked the time. "Speaking of which, are you hungry? Luca should be finishing up and now and we can all grab something to eat before your next class."

"Sure!"

While they went to find Luca, Vic and Seraphina were off on their own, having told the others that they were busy studying. In reality, the two were harboring a fledgling romance. "Shh," Seraphina whispered with a smile as Vic laughed softly as he held her in his arms. "If you're too loud we'll be found out."

"Relax, no one will be coming this way. It's fine." Before she could protest further he leaned down and kissed it, silencing her with ease. "All too easy," he whispered as she smiled back at him. It was puppy love, they both knew that, but they were going to enjoy the moment while they had it. Solan had already all but beaten into them that Jedi do not love. There was no marriage or life together. There was just duty to the Order and the force. But one thing the two Zeltrons had taught them all was that you could always find time for something that makes you happy, even if it is forbidden.

When Anoxa and Kobak found Luca, she had just finished showering and was getting dressed. "Food time?"

"Food time," Anoxa nodded.

They walked to eat and were talking amongst themselves when Kobak finally spoke. "Do either of you think of your families?"

There was silence as the two girls looked at each other with slightly pained expressions. They knew what the right answer was to that, and then they also knew the honest answer.

"Sometimes," Luca admitted.

"Do you think they worry about us?"

"I don't know," Anoxa told him. "We were so young and we've been gone for so long. I think they still love us, of course, but...I mean, there's no easy way to say it..."

"They probably think we're dead," Luca sighed.

Kobak's eyes got wide for a moment and then he nodded. "Yeah, I kind of thought that as well."

"One day, maybe, just maybe we can see them again," Anoxa told him. "You could come to Zeltros with us if we ever do. You'd like it there. There's no better place in the galaxy than Zeltros."

"Really?"

"Yep. It's the best. Whatever you want is there. All the best food. All the best drinks. All the best clothes. It's just the best," Luca told him with a nod. "My family owned a fashion store. I never wore the same thing twice."

"Of course not, you'd be the talk of the planet if you did," Anoxa teased as the two laughed at the fond memories of their home.

"We missing anything important?" Vic asked as he and Seraphina finally joined them, both having grown accustomed to the girl's eating habits and knowing just where they'd be.

"Talking about home," Luca said. "Thinking about our families. You know, all the stuff we're not supposed to do."

"At least you guys have good memories. I know it sucks to be taken from your families, but for me, this was kind of the best thing that ever happened. I was alone in a desert fending for myself. Not the best place to be for a kid. What about you Seraphina, what about your home?"

"It was normal, I guess," she shrugged. "My parents were very wealthy and influential where I came from. But because of that they weren't home a lot. They had some rival who weren't exactly fond of them; so I wasn't allowed to leave home without them. Needless to say, I didn't really have any friends. That's why I read so much. It helped to pass the time. I guess that's why I read so much now."

"But you have friends now," Vic quickly said.

"I do, good friends; but I fell in love with reading. When I'm reading and alone I can still imagine hearing mom's voice or the smell of dad's coat as he would hug me. It's the small things I try to remember and that I miss the most."

With time and some more training the four of them had finally come to the point that Solan stood before them. "I have taught you all that I can, it is now time for you to be selected by masters who will train you further and take you down the path to becoming knights."

As he said four masters who had been watching them train stepped forward. One of them, they all recognized as Shado Vao, the pilot who had brought them here. "Vic, you have shown interest in the way I fight." As he said this he summoned his lightsabers and had them floating around him. "This style is just as much about defense as offense. I have seen you training and I know that anger sometimes gets the best of you. I will train you to remain at peace and to defend that which is precious to you."

A Nautolan named Master Tao Sen stepped forward and looked to Anoxa. "Young one, you have a lot of energy and potential. You care about others greatly and wish to punish wrongdoing in the universe. I will harness that potential and instruct you further on how to purge the darkness of the Sith from our world. Under me, you will learn strength and how to fight against anything that stands in your way."

A human, Master Ezra, then stepped forward and smiled to Seraphina. He was a very old man, using a cane to get around, and yet his eyes seemed just a bright as a young man's."To the girl whom knowledge is more dangerous than any lightsaber, I will train in the art of the Jedi Order, its history and knowledge as well as lightsaber combat. What you lack in aptitude with the force, we will make up for with powerful martial skills which will let you cut your own path."

Finally a tiny Drall stepped forward and stared up at the little Luca. He was clothed in a simple robe and used a cane as well, though within the cane was actually his lightsaber. "For someone so skilled with a lightsaber you prefer the path of the pacifist. To let your words solve the problem and when they are not capable you have trained your fists to do the rest. I see in you someone who denies their greatest potential for fear...but I will train you in the ways of my Order, and from me you will learn a new path which will help you for the days ahead."

There was silence from the students, some in awe, some in excitement, and then there was Luca. "My master is so adorable!" She started to run to hug him when Solan held out his hand.

"Sleep," he said as Luca crumpled to the ground.

Master Splyn'Ter, the Drall, looked over at him as Solan shrugged. "Don't look at me like that. You will grow to love that ability."

"Seems you have your work cut out for you Splyn'Ter," Vao smirked as he took Vic. "Come with me, padawan. Your training begins now." He tossed him a lightsaber which he had made. "Give your training saber back to Solan, today you learn how to fight for real."

"Do I get a real lightsaber now too?" Anoxa asked her master who laughed.

"No! No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No."

"Wow...nine 'no's'...that's...that's not demoralizing..."

Seraphina sat her data pad aside and bowed to her master. "What is first?"

"First you will follow me to the hangar. We already have a mission." As he said this he handed her a lightsaber as well.

Both Vic and Seraphina bowed to Solan as they handed him back their training sabers. They paused as they looked to each other and then to their friends. This was it. This was the end. They were finally going their separate ways and yet none of them felt truly ready. "Goodbye Seraphina."

"Yeah, I guess it will be awhile before I see you again," Seraphina said softly.

"Too be fair, I never see you," Vic smirked to which Seraphina groaned.

"No, that's cool. You two just do your thing. I'll see you guys later," Anoxa said, arms crossed under her chest feeling left out from the goodbyes and not understanding why.

"Oh! Right! Bye Anoxa, tell Luca goodbye too...if she ever wakes up."

"You would really think she'd become immune to that by now," Vic mused. Before they could say anything else their masters urged them on and then they departed.

While Anoxa pouted, Splyn'Ter was dragging and unconscious Luca out of the room. "Bye Luca," she said sadly before she turned to her new master. "So, what's first?" She finally asked.

"First, we see what you're made of," he grinned maliciously as he cracked his knuckles. Anoxa instantly shrunk back from him. Couldn't she have gotten the old guy or the tiny, furry master instead?


	2. Chapter 2

Training under masters was much like their first days with the Jedi all over again. While they had gotten comfortable at their home, this was something new all over again. Their masters each had different personalities and different styles of teaching, and each, for whatever reason, had chosen them for their padawans.

Pain. That was Anoxa's life. Pain. So much pain. Every day she thought surely her body couldn't feel any more pain. Every day her master found a new way to prove her wrong. It was rough for her in the beginning. Her master was determined to break her, to test what she was made of so that he knew how to rebuild her. For the first several months Anoxa was scared of him and angry at what he was doing, honestly afraid he was mad and trying to kill her; but the longer she was with him the more she began to understand that yes, he was tough and sometimes he did more damage to her than any Sith could; but that was all to make her stronger. To make her better. To test her ability to walk the edge of the dark side and yet always come back to the light. One thing she learned from her master was that you had to do whatever it took to succeed. No matter what, no matter the sacrifice, your goal was to complete the objective and destroy the darkness. Sometimes that meant you had to give into the darkness a bit, but to never succumb to it entirely.

What started out with her very much being a punching bag for her master, soon became something more of a partnership. They began to work well together as she became stronger and her master could rely on her more and more to hold up her own weight. Their missions in the beginning were normally ones which involved combat. It was thankfully after her fourth mission that her master finally gave her a real lightsaber, so that way when she hit people she didn't have to keep hitting them to stop them from moving. Though he admitted she had earned the right to use one, he was going to miss the amusement he got from watching her continually whaling on some helpless Sith who was trying to escape her training saber.

Missions proceeded rather normally for her and her master, eventually leading them to the planet Pil Diller. They were following a vision that Master Skywalker had of a planetary implosion caused by an unknown super weapon. Needless to say, that mission was of the highest priority so when they broke orbit on the planet they immediately felt a great disturbance in the force as dark side energy ran rampant in one spot.

"Seems like we're missing some fun," Toa Sen said as he landed the ship. Both he and his apprentice got out, weapons ready as they began to scout ahead, taking their time to get a good lay of the land and what laid before them. Scouting and working the terrain was something that the two of them had become rather accustomed to as more than once they had been forced to track Sith through wastelands. As it was, they were able to communicate without words, just simple gestures and nods was all that they needed.

The draw of the dark side lead them to a site which Toa Sen immediately recognized from the Jedi records and upon seeing the pyramid like structure he realized just how dangerous this mission was.

"What is that master?" Anoxa asked, her eyes scanning down below. She knelt down as she saw several figures moving below them, silently making their way toward the pyramid.

"It's a Star Temple...something extremely dangerous," he told her. He paused and then whacked her on the head. "You should know that!"

"Ow!" She hissed and rubbed her head. "Maybe I would remember things if you quit giving me brain damage!"

"You'd have to have a brain for that to happen," he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "The Sith are already here. We don't have the luxury of a full reconnaissance. If they get in there we are in trouble."

"Frontal assault then?"

"No. Pincer movement. I'll try to draw them out and then... Wait a minute." He eyed the people below and watched them for a moment. "Change of plans. We're going to try to get assistance from the locals."

Anoxa had learned not to ask too many questions, so when her master jumped down around the local women she did the same. Toa Sen held up his hands as the women drew weapons at him. "Easy, we're Jedi. We're here to help."

"We don't need the Jedi's help," one woman said.

"Going to go out on a limb and say you're the leader. That's fine, but you do. I'm assuming you're here because the Sith are trying to get into the temple. We are here for the same reason."

He saw her tighten her grip on her weapon.

"We don't want the weapon," Anoxa said quickly. "We don't want to mess up your uh...sacred grounds, I'm guessing. We just want the Sith dead. So, we can work together to kill them. You know, we kill the Sith, win for us. You keep this place safe for you, win for you."

The woman stared at Anoxa and then to Toa Sen. "Jedi, you say?"

"Yes," Toa Sen said.

She didn't seem to like what she was about to say, but even so she lowered her weapon. "A temporary truce could be beneficial. These intruders have been here for a while trying to find a way in. We keep attacking them, but they keep driving us back."

"Then we will help. My apprentice and I can draw them out and we can work together. Pick them off one by one."

"My name is Kamine, and these are my warriors. If you can draw the Sith out from the shelter of the temple and we can engage them in open ground we can eliminate the threat; or if they refuse to fight us fairly there are traps within the temple which might be just as useful. If you can distract them, we can get within the temple using a secret entrance."

"We will go and be bait, stick to the shadows and draw in close when you see a moment to strike."

Kamine nodded and she had her ladies all but disappear into the shadows of the planet. Toa Sen didn't need to say anything to his padawan as they ventured forth toward the temple. Toa Sen stood out among the scenery, already having activated his lightsaber to draw attention to himself. Anoxa was always fascinated by her master's weapon which was so unlike any saber she had seen before. Its blade came out at a ninety degree angle and was attached to a chain which he used to twirl his weapon around and attack from all angles. He called it a kusarigama saber and she loved it, though it was a bit too complicated for her, at least as of now.

Still, he walked forward, blade in hand as he eyed the five Sith and smirked. "What's wrong? Forget your keys?"

None of the Sith initially responded as he was seemingly too far away to do anything; but with a flick of his wrist his blade flew out and sliced at the back of one of them before he tucked at the chain and pulled it back into his hand.

The Sith who was attacked screamed and he nodded to another as the two of them advanced. The one which Toa Sen attacked came at him first quickly trying to slash at him with his saber. Seeing Toa Sen's small blade, he wasn't worried at all, but when his blade came down, Toa Sen blocked it with the chain of his blade. "Only a fool rushes in without knowing what his opponent is capable of," Toa Sen said, chastising him even as he wrapped the tail end of his chain around the guy's leg and pulled his leg out from under him. While the man fell, Toa Sen twirled his blade and slammed it down onto the chest of the guy, all but throwing him to the ground as he sliced through his heart with his blade.

Anoxa had adopted a lot of her master's fighting style as her own, and while she didn't have the same weapon she took note of several of his fighting practices. The first being that if you take out an opponent's legs they were much easier to fight. As her opponent swung at her, she used the force to push his legs out from under him. She then ducked and turned, thrusting her blade out and letting her opponent fall forward onto the blade. The Sith was barely able to gasp before her body crumpled, Anoxa's blade effectively slicing her in two. Anoxa then heard a howl of rage as another Sith lunged at her, this one a man with a double ended blade. His lightsaber swung fast and hard, leaving her purely on the defensive to keep from being struck.

"I will murder you!" He screamed.

Anoxa felt anger seep through her as she was continually pummeled by the man's attack. Even the slightest error and she would be sliced into ribbons. Where was her master? She growled in frustration, her speed increasing as she felt her anger begin to fuel her responses to the attack. But as she felt this, she instinctively used her master's training to focus. Use the anger, don't let it consume you. "Please, if I lose to you my master would kill me!" Anoxa huffed as she held her ground and thrust her blade upward, parrying one of the man's attacks causing him to be thrown off balance.

"Damn straight I would!" Toa Sen yelled as his chain wrapped around the man's blade and pulled it out of his grasp. The man faltered in shock and Anoxa jumped up, spinning her blade around as she cleaved the man's head from his shoulders. His body collapsed with a loud thud and she jumped up and down. She was going to get so many sweets! She killed two siths!

Toa Sen smacked her in the back of the head. "Focus! It's not yet over. There's still two left." He cursed as he saw the doors to the temple begin to open. As it did though, a spear went straight through the face of one Sith who didn't even get a chance to scream. The last remaining one managed to get inside the temple, but through the open door they saw him get a few feet in before a ray of light slammed into his body. He screamed in agony as the ancient trap seemed to rip his body to shreds.

"Ouch..." Toa Sen nodded to Kamine and then looked to Anoxa. "Okay, here's the deal. I think Kamine likes you."

"Well I am pretty and I am a Zeltron so that's to be expected." She saw the hit coming and even though she tried to duck it still smacked her upside the head.

"Not like that! She's a leader of the Witches of Dathomir. They could prove to be powerful allies of the Jedi if we can win them over. They don't exactly like males, but you're going to buddy up to them. Any chance we have to gain powerful allies we should take."

"You know I don't think they like child abuse. So you should stop that," Anoxa hissed as Kamine joined them.

"Thank you for your assistance Jedi. It seemed that this victory was well won."

"It was and we are glad to be of assistance," Toa Sen said as he placed his hand on Anoxa's shoulder. Anoxa looked to him and then back to Kamine. "Now that your temple is safe, I have a personal favor to ask."

"Personal? It is not a Jedi favor?"

"Not entirely."

Kamine frowned but waved her hand. "What is it?"

"I would like my padawan to partake in one of your hunts of whuffa worms. I think it would be beneficial to her training, to make her stronger.

Kamine's eyes betrayed her shock and as she looked at Anoxa who grinned excitedly, having no idea what was going on, Kamine smiled to. "I think we could work something out to that end. Please, why don't you two come to our village."

The next few weeks was spent in relative harmony with the Witches. Much to Toa Sen's pleasure his apprentice was actually bonding with the Witches and getting along with them very well. He had watched her ride the back of a whuffa worm, repeatedly stabbing it in its head until it died and then she learned to make her own armor out of its hide. She had even managed to ride one of the Kwi, a feat which he was fairly certain no one but the Witches had managed to accomplish. The Witches were opening up to him and talk of the Jedi. Perhaps there was a chance of an alliance.

Anoxa took a seat by her master, wearing her whuffa armor and smiling as she nibbled on some fruit. "So, tonight they are holding a ceremony, they want to induct me into their clan."

"You have done remarkably well, Anoxa." He stared at her and noticed that she really did look the part of one of the Witches. Never in hundreds of years had Jedi been able to form an alliance with the Witches; but perhaps with this girl they finally stood a chance. For all the crap he gave her, she was growing up fast and becoming rather strong. She had killed two Sith on this mission and no longer cried when she got blood all over her. This was an improvement. She was going to make an excellent sentinel. " I feel as if I'm obliged to tell you that you have made me prou-" He stopped as he listened. "Anoxa...is your fruit singing?"

Anoxa nodded as she bit into it again. "Yeah, I was walking through this area and there was this fig. It looked so tasty and it sings. That music is pretty isn't it?" She tossed the rest into her mouth as Kamine came up along with her warriors all of which were armed.

"That was the last singing fig in existence," Kamine whispered in horror.

"But it was so good! There's no more? Really?" Anoxa cried. "Are you sure?"

Toa Sen was already getting up and packing his things to leave. "Kamine, I am sorry she didn't know."

"I-I can't believe it's gone." Kamine's gaze hardened as she stared at Anoxa and Toa Sen. "Leave. Now."

"I'm sorry!"

"Leave! I will not ask nicely again!"

Toa Sen grabbed Anoxa by the collar of her armor and began to drag her back to the ship. He muttered curses the entire way until they were in the ship where he felt deathly silent.

Anoxa sat there in the co-pilot seat. At first she was silent and then finally she looked over to her master. "Sorry I messed that up. But what were you going to say before we got interrupted?" She looked at him with wide, hopeful eyes and he just rubbed his temples as a headache was forming.

"When we get back to the base you're going to see the medical droid."

"What? Why? I'm not hurt!"

"I know. Not now. But we're about to start your real training," he grinned as Anoxa paled in her seat.

Vic's master was stern, though not abusive like Anoxa's was. Shado Vao was not a fan of children, but he knew Vic's potential with the force and due to the way his fighting style was conceived only someone with enough power and control of the force could effectively use his style. It was for that reason that he chose Vic as his apprentice. Their missions were similar to Anoxa's in that they were hunting Sith, but in addition to that mission they were also sent out to look for possible recruits as well. One of their missions left them on the ice planet of Rue. Their ship had been damaged in a fight with a Sith Interceptor, and both he and his master had to survive while being stalked by four Sith.

"We can avoid freezing to death by staying in here," Shado Vao said as he and his apprentice huddled inside a cave.

Vic shuddered and pulled his robes closer to him. He focused on the force, letting it move through him to try to heat up his body as his master had instructed him to do. "What are we going to do? This planet is barren. We have no way to fix our ship."

"I know. That is why we are going to take theirs," he explained as if that should have been obvious. He reached into his robe and handed his apprentice something to snack on. "Keep your energy up. This planet might not have any cities or civilizations, but there is still wildlife here that is likely more dangerous than our Sith friends. So stay close to me and we will get through this just fine."

As he said this, Vic watched in amazement as his master's lightsabers encircled him, floating through the air as invisible hands seemed to wield them. They weren't activated of course, as that would draw too much attention; but Shado Vao knew they were in a tricky spot and he had to be ready for anything. They stayed in the cave for about an hour, allowing a snow storm which had moved through their area to reach it apex before they headed out. The blizzard was blinding, and were they seeing with normal eyes neither of them would be able to find their way; but Vic was all too aware of what his eyes could do and Shado Vao trusted his apprentice to lead them through the storm.

Vic felt pride in being able to assist and he held onto his lightsaber as he searched for the presence of the force. They trekked through the storm for what seemed like an eternity, his hands were so numb he could barely feel the lightsaber which he held, and his body ached to the point that it was just through sheer will power that he was able to keep moving. He never said a word or complained as Shado Vao was behind him the entire time, hand on his shoulder letting him lead him. He had to endure and be strong for his master. It was at the point where he feared they would never find them that something shimmered in his view. In the distance he could make out four forms, radiating a dark red light which he knew as those who were consumed with the dark side.

"Just ahead master," he whispered as he stopped. "They're in the caves ahead. Their ship must be nearby."

"Good. I will take the lead then and you-" Shado's next words were cut short as the ground beneath them began to quake and give way. Shado Vao used the force to send Vic flying away from the crumbling ground, and he then began to leap over it to join his apprentice, when in midair something lunged at him.

The beast's fur was white as the snow and neither of them had seen it or felt it. It's claws tore into Shado's chest as the two of them were knocked into the now open ravine.

"Master!" Vic cried as he lunged for them and tried to reach for his master, but they had already disappeared into the abyss. Vic picked himself up off of the snowy ground and quickly weighed his options. He could go down for him, he had to. He didn't know how deep this ravine went. His master could be injured or worse... No, he couldn't think about that. He had to find a way down. The only option was to try and take out the Sith... His mind quickly snapped back to the Sith who were close by and surely heard him scream. He activated his lightsaber just in time to block the red blade of a Sith.

"Look what we have here, you did survive the crash." The Sith woman smirked as she began to attack him with a reckless abandon, using her size and strength to overwhelm him. She kicked him in the chest and his lightsaber fell to the ground as he struggled to keep his footing and not fall into the ravine. "Your stance is sloppy boy."

"That's because this isn't how I fight," he muttered angrily as she brought her blade down to finish him. Her blade stopped inches from him as his lightsaber shot up from the ground and floated in front of him, active and blocking her attack without him holding it. He grinned and took advantage of her momentary confusion. With his right hand he used the force to rip her lightsaber from her hand and then with his left hand he quickly used the force to grab her neck and lift her up into the air. "I fight like my master. Why hold a lightsaber when you can use your hands for more creative purposes?" The fallen Sith's saber began to rise and float around him. It was taking a lot of concentration to maintain two, but he was doing it. He stood there for a brief second, feeling the power surge through him as he held this Sith by the throat. It would be so easy to crush her now...

The thought was interrupted as another lightsaber came toward him. He used his lightsabers to attack another Sith, this one a red skinned Twi'lek, but he still hadn't perfected the style of fighting with two. As one saber went around to attack the Twi'lek and another blocked, but he left himself open and the Sith lunged for the kill. On instinct he pulled the Sith woman he was holding close to him as her own friend's saber pierced through her chest.

Warm blood splattered Vic's face and he heard the hiss of the Sith saber he was using be destroyed as another Sith joined the fray. Focusing the force in his hands, he pushed with all his might, sending the impaled Sith woman and the red skinned Twi'lek flying toward the ravine. He pulled his lightsaber to him again for defense but an intense pain filled his body as force lightning erupted from the fingertips of one of the remaining Sith. His body felt like it was on fire, never before had he experienced such pain and never before had felt such pure power coursing through him. It was as if his body was burning up from the inside out, as if the power of this force attack was too strong for his weak body to contain and that was why he was suffering so much. His body arched violently as he twisted and writhed on the ground. It could have been mere seconds or even days or years to him. Time lost all meaning as the two Sith began to torture him with the lightning, watching as his body twisted unnaturally to try to escape their powers.

The two Sith, a Zabrak and a Cathar moved around him, laughing at his suffering. "You call yourself a Jedi boy?" The male Zabrak laughed as another torrent of lightning struck the boy. "You're pathetic."

Vic screamed, his mind going numb from the pain. Even as his vision was full of blinding light, he fought back. He struggled and pulled himself through the snow using the force to try to pull his lightsaber to him. To focus on it, he had to be strong. He had to fight! With a scream of pure rage and agony he threw his hand out as a shockwave rippled between them, blocking the lightning and repelling it back at the Sith. For a brief moment his pain was gone and he heard the screams from the shocked Sith, neither knowing what had just happened or how he had managed to do that.

He took a deep breath as he grabbed his lightsaber and struggled to stand. Before he could get his feet steady beneath him a fist connected with his face and he was sent back to the ground. He coughed up blood and felt the heat of a saber close to his face. "You're dead you brat."

"No...I don't think I will," he said, his voice raw from screaming. "Because I bought enough time for my master to make his way back to us."

Lightsabers flew through the air and like a rainbow of beautiful death the descended upon the Sith. The two fighters battled the lightsabers the best that they could, but through the snow storm there was no figure for them to combat. They were so preoccupied with the blades coming at them from all angles that they didn't see the Twi'lek walk up behind them. Two blades stabbed through their chests and they were quickly silenced as they hit the ground. The lightsabers made a beacon through the storm for Vic to crawl to and Shado ran to him and quickly knelt by him to check his injuries.

"I'm sorry master, I failed to defeat them."

"You did better than I could have ever hoped for," he said, finally smiling at his apprentice as he helped him up and let him lean on him.

"You're smiling? Am I dead? That's...that's not right." He shook his head and Shado reached down and picked up the boy's lightsaber. Once they had found the Sith's vehicle Shado Vao first got his apprentice inside and bundle him up so he could sleep and rest. He then went through the ship and disabled the tracking device. He wasn't about to take them back to the Jedi Temple in this ship, but he didn't want the Sith to be able to track their movements either. Once he had done that he got into the pilot's seat, surprised to see that Vic was still awake.

"I'm surprised you could sense me while you were in that much pain," he told the boy.

"I didn't," he admitted. "I had just hoped you would be there."

Shado Vao smiled just a bit more and shook his head. "You did well back there Vic. You fought the Sith with courage and even when you could have given up you didn't. You are my apprentice, and I will keep you safe no matter what. I will always protect you; but now rest and know that I am proud of you. You have shown much promise today my friend."

Vic closed his eyes and let sleep take him, a smile forming on his resting face.

Luca's missions were far different from her friends. While all of them had some kind of combat mission, hers were for the most partdiplomatic...sort of. Splyn'Ter was different from the other masters in a key way, he was one of the only surviving members of the Jedi Shadow Order. The Jedi Shadow's were essentially assassin's, ones who did whatever it took to eliminate key threats to the universe and especially to the Jedi. Despite Luca's instance on being a pacifist, she had caught Splyn'Ter's eyes for two key reasons. The first is that she was a natural with a lightsaber and unmatched in any of her combat classes. The second came with her powers of persuasion. Being a pacifist she learned early on how to manipulate people using the force, her pheromones, and good ole fashion lying. She could get just about any of the younger students to do whatever she wanted without them ever realizing they were being controlled. It was that ability which made her perfect for the Jedi Shadow. Of course, with this came a hefty bit of a secrecy as she was sworn never to tell anyone what she secretly was...of course this came after she had already told Anoxa what she was.

Luca's training was much to her dismay, a lot about death and how to kill. She learned about all the major races weak points and vitals, as well as how to use hidden lightsabers and kill with thrusts and slashes. Even though she rebuked a lot of this training, Splyn'Ter was patient with her. He allowed her to move at her own pace and when he felt that she had taken as much as she could he would teach her something new to get her mind off of death. Despite her assignment being that of a killer, she chose to take all she learned and to become a better fighter in a way that she wouldn't have to kill. A way that she could just immobilize foes or better yet, use her manipulation to make them no longer threats. Under her master, despite being sent on many missions to eliminate targets, she never took a life. Never. She always tried to find another solution, a fact which Splyn'Ter found very admirable and something he secretly admired in her. An assassin's job was to take a life to save a life. Something which he strived to impart on his student. Sometimes when no other option presents itself, you must kill one to save a thousand. That was the duty of the Shadow.

"So, we're going to this Isis place to end some dispute?" She asked as she sat in the co-pilot seat toying with her lightsaber.

"Yes. There are two factions there, each was working together for us. They are smugglers, pirates, cutthroats, mercenaries, and assassins. The worst of the worst," he explained. "But they are good at what they do. In that regard they are the best of the best. Everything was fine with these two factions, but now the leaders are each vying for control of the other so we need to come and negotiate a truce for them."

"That's the official story anyway," Luca said, already surmising what their real objective was. "But-"

"But, the truth is that the leaders have contacted the Sith and are going to try to capture us and find out the location of the Jedi Temple."

"So, we're walking into a trap that they have set and they have to be stopped."

"Correct."

"But we're going to give them a chance to change their minds first, right, master?" She asked as she looked at him hopefully.

He smiled and placed his hand over hers. "No one's fate is ever set in stone. We will not act until they have chosen their own path."

She nodded, somewhat calmed by that. She hated the sight of blood and the sounds of people taking their last breath. Most of all she hated the feeling of fear she got when people died. She could feel it, every last emotion and feeling they have magnified within her before they finally pass. Just the thought of it made her shudder. As they began to land on Isis her eyes widened and she practically flung herself closer to the window to look. Isis was a marvelous planet made of crystals, which shimmered with thousands of rainbows all throughout the planet. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

"You can search the entire galaxy and never find a place like this." Their ship landed and within seconds of getting out were flanked by armed guards. Luca more or less hid behind her short master as she stared at all the hard looking men and women which looked ready to kill them at a moment's notice.

"I believe we are expected," he told one of the men. He was a younger man with a strong jaw and firm body. He had on standard armor but over it he had a long dark trench coat and a rather nasty looking blaster in his hands. Even so, the young man flashed them both a grin.

"You could say that. Come this way," he said. "But first we will need your lightsabers."

"Oh? What for?" Splyn'Ter inquired innocently.

"Negotiations can sometimes get hostile. So better to remove the weapons from all parties. A black eye and bruised ribs is a lot easier to fix than a missing arm or a hole in your chest."

"Fair enough," Splyn'Ter said as he pulled off the top of his cane to reveal his saber. With a smile he handed the young man his lightsaber. Luca did the same and the two Jedi were escorted to the great hall.

"Seeing as how it's just those who are needed in the negotiation you want the kid to wait out here with us?" the man asked.

Splyn'Ter looked at them and then to Luca. "Stay out of trouble, Luca," he advised before walking off to meet with the other leaders.

"Luca, huh? Name is Shepard," he grinned. "It's been awhile since I've had the pleasure of meeting a Zeltron."

"I can assure you, you've yet to have the pleasure of meeting me," she smiled up at him. "Are you someone important here?"

"Well, I like to think of myself as important. I'm a captain of a ship have a pretty good crew. Use to be a soldier before I took up to the smuggling and mercenary route."

"Sounds exciting. I use to be normal before the Jedi made me a Jedi." She walked around and examined the place. "What do you guys do for fun here?"

"Drink. Shoot stuff. Fight. Sleep with anything that moves. You know, the usual."

She laughed and smiled at him. "That sounds like my kind of place actually."

"Really? I figured all Jedi were stuck up boring sods who are too high and mighty for fun."

"Some...yeah, but I'm not one of them. I guarantee you've never met a Jedi like me before."

"That so? What makes you so different?"

She shrugged at first and then looked to him. "I guess because I have hope."

"Hope?"

She nodded. "Hope that one day I'll see my family again. Hope that one day I'll find the courage to tell someone I love them. Hope that one day I won't have to live in fear of people trying to kill me just because of who I am."

"Don't the Jedi normally kill people because of who they are?"

"I'm no killer...at least I don't want to be," she whispered. "But that's kind of an inevitability in this world isn't, Shepard? One day, to survive you will have to kill someone. I don't want to...but I know one day it will happen. Someone will try to kill me, for no other reason than money or pride or because we're at war...and I'll either get killed trying to defend myself or I'll kill them. Silly, isn't it? To think that we live in a world where such a beautiful place like this could exist, and yet we fight over such stupid and silly things like money and power. You have to wonder, what kind of person would do that. Sell someone out when all they were trying to do was to make the world a better place." She stopped and cleared her throat as she looked back at him. She saw the shock on his face and she laughed a bit. "See? Told you I'm not an ordinary Jedi."

"Uh...yeah, I guess you aren't." He seemed to stare at her now with keen interest as if trying to figure out what to say. As he was doing this more men began to move around them and one nudged him.

"Seems like they want you to go," Luca said softly.

He frowned as he looked at all the armed men and women. "Yeah, seems like they do."

"You should go then. We all have roles to play, Shepard. You have yours and I have mine."

"You know you could go check on your master," he suggested.

"I know, but then I think I'm needed here. After all, all these angry people with guns seem awfully interested in me. Go on Shepard, no need to play the hero. You've got a very pretty face, I'd hate for it to get hurt."

Shepard smirked, but never took his eyes off of her as he stepped back into the crowd and disappeared.

A large wookie walked toward holding handcuffs and it growled at her to give her arms to him. "Really? A betrayal? Oh no. Please, stop." She sighed

"You don't have your lightsaber, girl. You're defenseless. Put on the cuffs so we can send you to the Sith in one piece," a Rodian said.

"That is a thought...except for one thing."

"What's that?"

"I'm not defenseless." She grinned as she slammed her fist into the wookie's chest, sending it flying back with the force. Blaster fire erupted around her as she flipped, jumped, and dodged in mid-air to avoid getting hit. She grabbed the gun out of one woman's hand before slamming her fist into her face effectively putting her to sleep...just with pain. After she leapt over a group of men trying to grab her, she spun around, kicking them in their faces and knocking them to the ground. She then proceeded to grab any nearby objects she could with the force to hurl at her opponents and keep them from firing at her. She knelt down behind her floating cover as she counted how many were shooting at her. Somewhere between thirty and hundred, math was never her strong point. Either way she was in trouble. Despite her relative calmness and cockiness, even she knew that she was in trouble.

It was then when she heard the hum of a lightsaber that she thought her master had returned and all was going to be okay! It was then that she remembered her master didn't have his lightsaber. Looking up from where she was, she followed everyone's gaze to Shepard who had walked into the middle of the group and had activated her saber. "Nifty," he mused as he swung it around while walking in front of her.

"Shepard what the hell are you doing? Get out of the way!"

"Yeah, no," he said as he continued to play with her saber. "This thing is really light." He turned it off and tossed it behind him as Luca reached up and caught it with ease. "See, I kinda like this girl. We're not going to turn her into the Sith. The Jedi have been good to us, so we should be good to them."

"What are you doing?" Luca asked as she seemed to appear beside him.

"You've got a pretty face too, I'd hate to see it ruined," he whispered.

"Shepard, you're an idiot," someone groaned. "Fine. We just need the master. Kill them both."

Someone behind Shepard moved and without looking he grabbed his gun and fired behind him, shooting the gun out of the person's hand. "Yeah, I thought you might say that. That's why I decided not to fight fair. Drax! Now!"

A large blaster fire erupted in the center of the crowd as a ship began to descend upon them, stopping just above their heads and hovering there as its cannons were focused on the mercenaries. Everyone was momentarily frozen and trying to decide what to do and in that instant Luca found her opportunity to strike with her greatest weapon. She closed her eyes as her pheromones spread out among the crowd, calming them as her thoughts became theirs. "Rather than fight, why don't we have a drink and talk this all over. I think I'd like to get to know some of you better." As she said this she opened her eyes and smirked at Shepard.

It was a while later when her master returned. He walked through the main area where blaster fire and burn marks resided and hurried toward the sound of shouting and fighting. He shouldn't have taken his time to make certain that the idiot 'leaders' of this little faction hadn't sent the Sith the location of Isis. He should have checked on Luca first. Without her lightsaber she was at a disadvantage and there was no telling what had happened. "Luca I-" He stopped as he stared at Luca, sitting beside men twice her size laughing and drinking while she leaned against a human male who was just as drunk as she was.

"Master! See? I did just fine! No killing for this one! Not a one!" Luca said with a laugh. "This guy...this guy right here...he's the new leader. I like him!" She laughed again as she fell out of her seat only for Shepard to quickly attempt to catch her...and then fall out of his seat. Before either could hit the ground a large Shistaven caught them both and shook his head with a disapproving sigh.

Splyn'Ter walked over and took a seat before the two of them. The last time he had seen Luca this happy was when she was still with her friends training with them, before he had gotten a hold of her. He took the cup from her and took a small sip and wince as the alcohol went down his throat. He eyed Luca who was still smiling. "Only you could turn an execution squad into a party," he smiled with her.

For Seraphina, her time was vastly different from the others as Master Ezra focused on the two of them constantly going and searching for lost Jedi Temples. For the most part, their missions were purely of a knowledge based objective. Trying to find hidden troves of Jedi lore and history. In her time with Master Ezra, she learned much about the light side and dark side, as he had lived a long life and had seen the Empire fall and a new one rise. He had seen the darkness which corrupted Jedi and had felt the call of darkness himself. Speaking with him was like diving into a book which refused to give her all its secrets.

Seraphina had spent years with him now and still hadn't learned all he could teach her. They had managed to find a long lost temple, something that no known records had listed. She and her master stood together in silence as they used the force to open up a secret door carved inside a mountain. The door slid open, revealing dust from potentially eons of abandonment. The two of them ventured in, quiet and reverent of the place they were entering. Upon going inside, the very first thing they notice were skeletons of different races but all clothed in what appeared to be ancient Jedi armor rather than robes. Beside them laid lightsabers, long since forgotten.

"I wonder what happened here, master," Seraphina mused softly as she knelt down to examine the clothes and weapons. They were old. Some of the weapons were protosabers, ancient relics that had been used since the very earliest of days of the Jedi.

"From the way the skeletons are positions, perhaps they were guardians of this temple," Ezra said. The bodies didn't appear to have been in combat, rather they all died in a resting position, as if they were meditating. His first thought was that this might be an old trial temple, but these skeletons wore armor, these were soldiers prepared for a fight. "While it doesn't appear anyone has been here recently, we should still tread carefully."

"Of course, master." She moved back to his side as they went deeper into the temple. As they searched, they began to realize that the temple was actually reconstructed to be a base, perhaps during one of the great Sith wars. Whatever information they might have learned from holocrons or datacrons seemed non-existent as everything they found had been wiped clean, a precaution in case the enemy came to them.

As Seraphina was going through some of the datacrons to look for information, she nearly screamed when she reached out and saw another skeleton sitting there. This skeleton had beautiful armor on and in its hand rested a purple shimmering orb. Curious about it, Seraphina reached out and took it. It felt warm in her hand and she examined it trying to see if it was some kind of information orb. She had never seen anything like it before and wondered what it went to. She began to look around for what the device might fit into. She went further into the back of the temple ahead of Ezra, determined that it had to fit into some sort of console. Going further in, she made her way through some darkened corridors which grew darker and darker as she went. It was as she was walking carefully through an open area that she stepped in something which caused her foot to become stuck to the ground.

With a grunt she pulled at her leg and stared down at the darkness, trying to figure out what had her. Finally she activated her lightsaber, the blade of which illuminated what was before her. All around her enormous webs were strewn about and there just inches from her face in the darkness was an enormous arachnid type creature which appeared to be some breed of wyyyschokk . It had a torso with limbs and a fanged mouth and it screeched at her and the blinding light of her blade. She quickly swung at it, slicing the creature in two before she sliced at the webbing which held her foot. All around her the webs began to move as more of the creatures came out of hiding.

"Master!" Seraphina called as she began to race back toward the entrance. She slipped the purple gem inside her coat as she ran. She nearly made it back toward the area where she had found the gem in when another web seemed to come out from nowhere and attach to her foot. Causing her to trip. As soon as she felt herself falling she twisted around and sliced through the webbing to free herself. Even so, she still hit the ground hard and watched as spiders began to descend from the roof of the temple down on top of her.

"Get away from me!" She shouted and threw her hand up as the creature which tried to land on her was sent flying through the air.

More tried to come and she felt more webbing begin to coat her. She attempted to slice off as much webbing as she could as she got up and started to run away again. Another spider lunged at her, and just like its friend it soon laid in pieces at her feet. As she finally neared the door Master Ezra found her and upon seeing the horde coming after her he closed his eyes and held up his hand. All around them the walls of the temple began to shake and Seraphina was both amazed and mortified as she watched the ceiling in the area where the spiders were begin to cave in. Her master was destroying the temple! The spiders screeched as they were crushed underneath the falling rubble and those that tried to escape were quickly cut down by Seraphina's saber. Even so, she stared in shock at her master.

"But what about the temple? What about the knowledge?"

"All that has been lost can be found again," Ezra told her.

"But that entire section is now caved in."

"Yes, and we will remove every stone if we have to; but we will do that with a proper team. Those spiders are dangerous as I'm sure you're aware. Knowledge is important, but your life is more important my dear. Besides, we have already learned much from this location."

"We have?"

He nodded and motioned for her to follow him. "This temple was active during a great Sith war. The Jedi here were guardian of some sort, armed with protosabers and wearing old world armor. They were warriors and yet they died in here, seemingly of natural causes rather than to go onto the battlefield to fight their enemies. That means that whatever kept them here was something very important. We will return to the temple and tell them what we have found out and then regroup with a larger team to clear out the wreckage and the spiders."

"I want to be a part of that," Seraphina quickly told him. "I've never been in a temple this old before. I want to come back and see what all we can learn."

"And you will," he promised her with a laugh. They returned to their ship and as he contacted the temple to explain the situation they received new orders. "Well then, it seems that the temple wants us to return. Apparently you are being assigned a new task."

"Oh? What for?"

"Not certain, but it seems some other masters and apprentices are being called back as well. Perhaps you will get to see some of your friends."

She thought about that possibility and smiled to herself. It had been years, so many years since she had last seen them. They had kept in touch through messages of course, but it would be nice to see them. Her fingers lightly ran across her lips as she thought of Vicker. It had been so long, and they had been so young then. So much had changed, but she did hope to see him again.

Upon arriving at the temple Ezra was called to meet with the other masters. "Go to your room. Rest and relax until you are summoned."

She nodded and did just that. Upon arriving at her room she yawned as she went to take off her robes. She paused as she felt the weight in her pocket and frowned as she remembered the gem. She reached in and pulled it out before plopping down on her bed and examining it. She had forgotten to tell her master about it. As soon as she could she would do just that. Putting it back in her pocket ashe got up and stared at herself in the mirror. She tried to remember what she looked like when she was younger. She was taller now, at around five-seven, and though she wore the tan robes of a Jedi archivist beneath those robes her body was well toned from the combat training she practiced. She ran a hand through her long brunette hair and stared at the reflection of her brown eyes. Her pale skin had faint scars from adventures on it, but all Jedi bore scars of battles. She was no different, but the thought did occur to her now as she thought back to Vic, was she pretty? She had never really considered it before, and she was considering it for someone who was blind. She laughed at the silliness of it when there was a knock at her door. Going to it, she stopped mid laugh as an all too familiar form stood before her.

"Hey there beautiful," Vic said. He was a good four inches taller than her now so that she had to look up at him. His once tan skin was now a pale white from years in the asteroid and in space, and through his shaggy black hair was a mess he had the same smirk that he always had. His dark robes were far different than hers, different styles of Jedi, though she didn't know many Jedi that wore such dark colors. Her eyes traveled from his robes to the portions of his flesh that she could see, noticing that faint scars lined every inch of his flesh. "I'll take that silences as you are so awe struck from my presence that you went blind in the mouth."

She smirked at that and hugged him. "It's good to see you, Vic," she whispered and felt his arms embrace and pull her tighter in.

"It's good to sense you too. It's been far too long." As they pulled back, he seemed to hesitate before he let his hand come up to caress her cheek. Seraphina felt herself blush, but kept her composure. It was clear that she was still very important to him. Her hand came over his and she rested there for a moment.

"We should probably see if the others are here," she suggested. The door shut behind him though when he stepped forward and pressed his lips to hers as all thoughts of finding the others were all but erased from her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

Anoxa yawned as she walked the halls. Her master was with the others so she was free, but bored. Kobak wasn't around and so far she hadn't seen anyone else. She missed them. It was easy not to think of them when you were in the middle of battle or training, but being here, being back at the temple. It seemed just like yesterday and yet so long ago that they were here. The First Order. She smiled at the memory. That was what they were. The First kids there. The First to be trained. The First to go out as padawans.

She was momentarily lost in thought that it wasn't until a hand touched her shoulder that she came out of it. On instinct she turned around to block an attack. "I'm sorry master!" She reflexively said and prepared to counter his smack, only it never came. Instead she felt arms around her waist and a near bone shattering grip as someone hugged her.

She looked down to see bright blue hair and instantly she broke out into the largest grin possible. "LUCA!"

"ANOXA!" Luca shouted up to her as they embraced and jumped up and down. "You're not dead!"

"I know!" The two stepped back momentarily, still holding hands, as they looked each other over. Anoxa was still taller than Luca, much to Luca's sadness. As Luca seemed to peak and five foot three, and Anoxa reached five seven. While Anoxa's pink hair was shoulder length, Luca kept her blue hair long, somehow it never got in the way of her fighting. Anoxa wore a skin tight white bodysuit, allowing her freedom of movement without having to worry about the traditional Jedi robes getting in her way; whereas Luca wore well, a flowing skirt, tight shorts and a tight top along with thigh high combat boots and gloves. There was also lots of lace and frills on her outfit. How she managed to keep her combat outfit looking girly and pretty was anyone's guess. How some of the older Jedi didn't have heart attacks even Anoxa didn't know. Still she was so happy to see her friend that neither of them could stop from smiling. Though Anoxa had several scars from fighting and training, she noticed that Luca had barely any; and seeing as how she could see most of Luca's skin, she was fairly certain she wasn't hiding any scars.

"You have to tell me all about your adventures!" Luca said.

"You have to, too! What have you been up to? What's that special training like? Where is your master? Can I pet him?"

"Special training?" Both girls turned to look at Seraphina and Vic walking down the hall. The ear shattering sound of the Zeltron's squealing together in joy as they raced to their friends was enough to make both the human and Miraluka cringe.

"We're all here!" Anoxa said as everyone hugged and examined one another.

"And everyone grew but me...this...this isn't fair."

"Your boobs did all the growing," Seraphina smirked to which Luca grinned.

"I am okay with that."

"So, what did we interrupt?" Vic asked them.

"Nothing," Luca said with a wave of her hand and a careful glance to Anoxa. "So, this is great us all being together after all this time; but anyone else thinking that it's not a coincidence?"

"I was kind of getting that vibe as well," Seraphina admitted. "Master Ezra and I were in the middle of scavenging a temple when we got the call to come back. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the purple orb. "Look at what I found."

"Oh, that's pretty," Anoxa whispered as she took it and examined it. "What does it do?"

"No idea."

"What is it?" Luca asked.

"No idea."

"Is it Jedi or Sith?" Vic inquired.

"No idea."

"Does it explode?" Luca asked.

"Not certain."

Luca reached over and took it from Anoxa and handed it back to Seraphina. "Then probably best you hold onto it."

"Gee. Thanks," she laughed.

"Master and I were tracking some Sith. We got the call and came back, but not before finishing our mission." Anoxa nodded to them.

"We were plucked right out of space. We were going to board a star cruiser to look for some illegal drugs being smuggled into one of the planets when we got the call to come back," Vic said.

"I was just training," Luca shrugged. "Though I wonder what is going on that we are all needed back for?"

"You will find out about that on the way there," Shado said as he walked by them.

"Master?" Vic asked as he moved with him.

"Follow me, padawans. A new temple has been uncovered and you are going with me to examine it."

"All of us? Why are all of us needed?" Seraphina asked.

"Each of you have been training in very different fields. Out of all of the padawans you have the most experience with ancient temples, any traps or mechanisms which might be within. The door seems to be locked by the force, and Luca has the most raw force power of out the padawans. Anoxa has the most combat experience against Sith so she will be an asset in case we come across any hostiles. Vic is my padawan, and out of all of you the only one that I know and trust."

"Good to know," Anoxa said. She shrugged and they all followed and boarded Shado Vao's ship, the Secret Runner. While he was piloting them to their destination, the group spent that time getting reacquainted and really getting to know each other once more. The last time that they were on this ship was when they were all brought to the Jedi, so at least for three of them it was a bit nostalgic being on it again.

"So, you did a coup of a space pirate place and ended up just getting everyone drunk and talking it out?" Anoxa asked in disbelief. Granted, it wasn't in disbelief that Luca could do that; but rather that this happened and she wasn't there to witness it.

"Yeah, it was great. If we ever get the chance I'd like to take you guys there. It's one of the best places I've ever been too. Though the planet is weird with the force, I don't know if that would affect the way you see, Vic." Luca looked to him as she was sewing something for her master. She had taken to often making him clothes because he was adorable. Currently she was working on a tiny top hat so that he could look like a dapper gentleman.

He shrugged as he sipped on some tea. "Not certain, but for you guys I'd at least give it a try."

"I've honestly never read of that planet before. It's not logged in any of the Jedi databases," Seraphina mused.

"Yeah, that's cause it's secret. Really hush hush. It's kind of a backup plan for the Jedi should the asteroid ever get attacked." She held up her tiny top hat and smiled. He was going to love this!

"Good to know."

That night in the midst of their travels they each took their rooms. Just like old times Luca and Anoxa shared a room, though unlike old times Seraphina and Vic shared a room, even though there were plenty of rooms for them.

As the Zeltron's slumbered the two of them began to toss and turn in their sleep as dark images seeped into their minds. Memories flooded them, memories long since forgotten of blood and sabers, screams and fire. They saw the several blades of light more clearer now, and now in their dreams they recognized the figure wielding those blades to be none other than Master Shado Vao. They watched as he combated some dark form only to have his body ripped to shreds by some terrible force.

Both girls woke up in fear filled states, sweat dripping from their bodies as they stared at each other in horror. Not even bothering to change out of their night clothes the two of them wordlessly got up and raced to the cockpit where Shado was.

"Master Shado!"

"Master Shado!"

Shado Vao turned, looked at the two Zeltrons in their underwear and sighed. "What is it, girls?"

"We had a vision, Master," Anoxa said.

"The same one we had years ago."

Shado Vao turned his full attention to them now. "Go on. What was it?"

"We were at the temple."

"And there was blood and fighting and fire."

"And we saw you."

"You were fighting someone. Someone dark and powerful."

"Master...they kill you."

Shado Vao was silent for a few moments as he crossed his hands before him. He felt a weight in his chest as he thought about these girls and what they were telling him. This was not the first time he had heard this story. Solan had told him the first time the girls had a vision like this as they had mentioned the several lightsabers and he was the only one who used that style. Now these girls were telling him once more that he was to die. The girls were scared, of course they were. They were trained in the force and powerful, but they were still young. They hadn't fully seen the horrors of war or just how powerful the force could be.

"Do not worry about me girls."

"But the vision."

"It seemed really clear."

"The future is always changing. The force gives us ideas of what might come, but that does not mean it is set in stone. If we live in fear of things like death, then we are not truly living."

"But Master, we don't want you to die," Luca whispered.

He smiled a bit for them. He looked at the two amazed that they were still afraid to lose people after having the masters that they had. He figured their innocence would have been beat out of them and yet they still held to hope. "I won't die, not if I have anything to say about it. I am a battle master after all, and the last thing that I need is for padawans to be worrying about me. It's my job to worry about you. So go back to bed, okay? There is nothing to worry about."

Though he said that, both Zeltrons could sense the fear that was within him as well. It was faint, but it was there. They looked to each other and like so long ago when they had this vision before the two of them were powerless to do anything.

The next morning they were landing on a desolate planet which seemed to house no life and try as they might they could feel no significant connection to the force there. More importantly as soon as they stepped off onto the grassy planes the ground just felt wrong.

Anoxa activated her saber as she knelt down and examined the ground.

"What are you doing?" Luca asked curiously.

"I've learned a lot about tracking from Master Toa Sen. This ground isn't right." She stabbed her lightsaber down and made a cut along the ground. There beneath the grass was nothing but metal. "This planet is metal..."

"Odd. That shouldn't be right," Seraphina said. While the four padawans examined that, Shado Vao went ahead. The temple was falling apart in some regions, with a large cracked opening high above one of the towers. Below, however, there only appeared to be one way in. A single door was held shut by powerful force powers which bound it close. Shado Vao had already taken to meditating in front of the door to try to open it and while he did that the others explored to try to look for alternate ways in. Anoxa, seeing the opening in the tower began to climb.

"I'm going to see if I can get in from there and then open the door from the other side," she called out.

"Right...you do that. I'll just wait down here." Luca stood below her and calmly watched her friend scale up the side of the temple with much more ease and grace than she would have imagined. Anoxa had gotten really awesome since she last saw her.

"For what?" she asked as she climbed up higher.

"Just wait for it."

Anoxa got to the top and peered down the cracked wall to see if she could tell what was inside. All she saw, however, was a murky blackness which blocked her view. The darkness didn't seem natural, in fact there was no way that it could be natural. The sun was directly above them now and should be filling the room with light. Curiously she reached down, trying to figure out what was causing it. As soon as her hand touched the darkness she felt a powerful barrier repel her, shocking her with a powerful force pulse and hurling her off of the tower. Her body was momentarily in shock and she was unable to move any of her limbs as she plummeted toward the ground. She was thrown back first so she couldn't even see the ground, all she knew was in that second she was going to die!

Anoxa closed her eyes and waited for the pain to come, but it never did. Slowly she opened her eyes. Was she already dead? Instead of being greeted by death she saw Luca smiling at her as she held her suspended in the air by the force. "That was what I was waiting for." She helped her friend back to her feet and looked her over. "What happened?"

"There's some kind of barrier," Anoxa finally said as she got control of her body. "It's dark energy whatever it is. How did you know I was going to fall?"

"I didn't. But when it comes to you always better safe than sorry."

"Thanks," she smiled.

"Anytime."

Seraphina and Vic came around to them, each having gone around a different way to look the building over. "No sign of any other entrances," she told them.

"Then I guess we'd better check on my Master."

They walked back to the front where Shado Vao was deep in meditation. Luca walked over and lightly touched him. "He's really deep in meditation... This normal for him?"

"No," Vic said. "If the force power that Anoxa described is as bad as it is, he might be having a hard time punching through it to open it up."

"Okay. I'll sit with him and try to meditate and help him. If in ten minutes we haven't snapped out of it get help." She gave them a weak smile as she sat down and held her arm out, matching Master Shado Vao's movements. As soon as she began to meditate on the door, she felt a dark force push against her. She was nearly overwhelmed by the dark presence until she felt Shado Vao's energy merge with hers. With his help she managed to focus and not be consumed by it. Together their energies began to spread out, fining weaknesses within the presence as they tried to push it back to free the doors.

As the two of them did this, Vic watched Seraphina and Anoxa who stared at the two meditation Jedi with some worry in their eyes. His eyes moved from his friends to the door which seemed to pull him. He hesitated, knowing from experience that normally when things called to you it wasn't a good thing. He looked away and yet the more he tried to ignore it, the stronger the pulling felt. Finally he couldn't take it. He walked over to the door and examined it. His hand brushed the door, his fingertips lightly pressing to it.

As soon as he touched it he heard his master and Luca take deep breaths of air. In their meditation they pushed hard against the presence, shattering it as they felt a nearly crippling level of fear consume them as one word seemed to burn itself within their minds. Infernis.

The two Jedi's eyes opened as Vic stepped back from them, his shoulder bumping into the door as it easily opened for him now.

Shado Vao looked to Luca who met his calm gaze with her own amber orbs. "Did you feel that as well?" he asked her.

She nodded slowly.

"And that name?"

"Infernis," she whispered.

"Are you okay?" Anoxa asked them.

Shado kept his eyes on Luca, wanting her to answer. "Yeah, of course," Luca told her. "Just a bit shaken up. I felt that presence you were talking about. It's not fun."

Anoxa held her hand down and pulled Luca to her feet. Shado Vao stood up as well and the four of them entered into the temple."Vic, you and your friends take the right hallway and I will take the left. We have our communicators, so if you run into anything call me."

"Yes Master." As Shado Vao did his thing, the other four went down the adjacent hallway. Luca took point, as despite her small size she moved the fastest out of all of them and was quickly going through the place and examining it until they came to another locked door.

"I guess this one is like the last one. I'll try to break it and if that doesn't work call Master Shado Vao."

"Be careful," Vic warned, feeling uneasy about this.

"I'm always careful."

"Right."

She sat down and began to meditate. Just like before she felt the presence, but it seemed stronger, more concentrated there. Her brow furrowed in her mediation as she tried to overpower it with her sheer force power.

Several minutes passed and Luca hadn't managed to move a muscle and the door didn't seem to budge.

"I'm going to call Master Shado," Anoxa said.

"Give it a second. Let me try to help," Seraphina suggested. "Last time it took two of them." She took a seat and began to meditate with Luca. Anoxa paced anxiously back and forth as she watched them. She didn't like this place. Something about it made her skin crawl as she felt a feeling of fear she hadn't felt since her master had beaten fear out of her. It made her feel like a helpless child once more and she didn't like it.

Vic stood away from the door. The same feeling growing stronger with every second. What was so special about him that the door seemed to call to him? Why not Seraphina, or Anoxa, or even Luca? The last time he touched the door something seemed to happen, Shado Vao and Luca were able to open it. Maybe it was just his presence that was needed? Even as he questioned this he found himself walking toward it. It wasn't until he'd put his hand to the door and he felt it open that the presence went away and he felt at ease again. Even so, it was in that brief moment that he had a realization as to why it was calling to him, it was the darkness within him. His hand went to his chest as he looked at his friends who were starting to come out of their trance. He stepped back from the door so they wouldn't notice he had opened it. Something within this place sensed him though. He knew that within him was that darkness, that part of him which still yearned for more. It grew and expanded after years of repression the night he was tortured by Sith lightning; and now here in this place he could feel it swell up inside him once more.

"Vic, are you coming?" Seraphina asked. She looked back at him with a concerned expression and just like that he felt his fears melt away.

"Yeah, coming," he smiled.

The room they entered was an enormous coliseum area. There were stands and a the center area they were in was the training grounds for the coliseum, the central stage and fighting arena. Above them was a hole in the wall where Anoxa had tried to climb in, but from within the room they could see no darkness and felt no dark presence either. Everything felt for lack of anything else, normal. The only thing out of place was an enormous purple sphere which seemed to shine with billions of stars. The sphere shimmered and floated there, the outside rippled as if it was made of water.

Luca walked up to it and cautiously pressed her finger to it and watched it ripple. While it acted like water, she couldn't push her hand through it as it was solid enough to stop anything from passing through it. "What do you think it is?"

"No idea," Anoxa whispered beside her.

Seraphina stared at the orb, transfixed by it. Very slowly her head turned toward the upper stands of the stadium. Without a word she began to go up the steps. Her body seemed to move on its own and try as she might she couldn't focus on what she was doing. Her limbs seemed to move independent of her will as if she was drawn to the spot upstairs.

Everyone was so transfixed by the orb, they didn't even realize she was heading toward the stairs until Vic went to ask her a question and realized she was halfway across the stadium floor and heading toward the opposite side. "Hey, Seraphina, where are you going?" When he didn't get a reply he looked to the other girls and started for her. As soon as he did, however, he heard the activation of two lightsabers.

The three padawans quickly turned to see two Sith behind them. Clad in black robes with hoods pulled over their faces they seemed to smirk as they saw the young adults.

Both Anoxa and Vic quickly activated their lightsabers, but Luca was the one who stepped forward and hold out her hands. "Put down your lightsabers now," she commanded. She felt her pheromones swirl with the force and start to encompass the Sith, but something was wrong. She focused on the force but it felt weak. Her pheromones weren't focused, nothing was. Behind her, she heard Vic curse softly. Something was affecting him too.

The Sith before them stumbled a bit as her pheromones hit them, but without the force to focus them they were able to shrug it off. "No...that's not how that is suppose to work," she said in shock. "Something's wrong."

"You're telling me," Vic said. His vision was distorted. He could barely make out Luca or Anoxa, much less the Sith before him. He could hear them though and when heard one move to take a swipe at the dumbfounded Luca he quickly moved to block the lightsaber with his own. Shoving Luca out of the way, he blocked the Sith's attack and the two quickly began to exchange blows.

"Vic!" Luca moved to help but a lightsaber just barely missed her as she sidestepped the second man's attack. Anoxa was there at her side though as she assisted and lunged at him.

Luca didn't activate her blade as she saw her friend's fighting. She wouldn't have to, if they could keep them distracted she could disable them with a punch. She quickly glanced at Seraphina who was still walking away from them, completely oblivious to what was going on. Luca ducked another blade and then lunged at an opening as she slammed her fist against the metal armor hidden beneath the Sith robes. Normally the force would cushion and strengthen her attack, but this time, just like with her pheromones the force was absent and her hand slammed painfully against the metal. "Damn it!" She cursed and fumbled. As she stepped back the Sith found his own opening and swung his saber, slashing at Luca's exposed shoulder. Luca screamed as she stumbled back and held her shoulder.

Vic didn't dare try to use his master's style with the force being dampened here for fear of losing his blade. He fought fiercely with the man before him and when he saw a moment to strike he tried to take it but with his vision obstructed instead of striking at the man he swung at nothing but air. The man held his hand out and for a brief second Vic was lifted into the air and his lightsaber was pulled from him, his throat painfully crushed before he was dropped to the ground. The Sith seemed to be confused for a second and in that second Vic lunged at him. His hands aimed for the man's throat as he tried to wrestle him to the floor.

Luca activated her saber and without a moment to lose she joined the fray with Anoxa. The two girls, despite this being the first time they had fought together in years seemed to instantly fall into synch with one another. When Anoxa struck, Luca blocked for her, and when Luca went in to try to disarm the man, Anoxa covered for her. Their movements were so quick and so fast that Luca had to rely on pure instinct rather than force to keep her momentum. Her body reacted on years of training, much as everyone else's did, but in relying on the instinct she struck at the instant she saw an opening.

The man had moved to strike Anoxa, who had seen the attack coming and raised her saber to block. As he focused on striking her down he put all his strength into the attack, driving her saber down and letting his own graze her neck. If he had been fighting her alone, there was a good chance he could have pressed his advantage and killed her; but in focusing all his strength on her he left himself unable to fully counter Luca. Her body seemed to move on its own as she watched in slow motion horror as she swung and her lightsaber effortlessly cleaved his head from his body.

"No!" Luca screamed in utter horror. Her world seemed to spin as his body collapsed, her body was overloaded by the sense of utter loss and fear he felt as he saw the blade coming toward him. She held her chest, her eyes wide, heart racing and body shaking from what she had just done. Twenty years she had gone without taking a life. Twenty years she had been good! She hadn't killed, no matter what! She heard the sounds of fighting. She knew their lives were still in danger but she couldn't look away from the dead body on the ground.

"Luca! Luca!" Anoxa shouted. She had never seen her friend like this. She looked...broken. It was hard to describe the look on her face, but physically she was fine. She didn't want to leave her, not like this, but Vic screamed as a lightsaber stabbed through his leg as the man managed to kick him off and finally stand. Anoxa focused on her training as she raced toward him. She was prepared to strike at him in close combat, but what she wasn't prepared for was for the man to suddenly throw his saber at her. Anoxa was running at full speed and without the aid of the force she wasn't able to counter in time. The blade passed by her, slicing the side of her stomach as it passed. Anoxa screamed out loudly in shock and pain; and even as she focused on him and tried to stab at him he was already upon her. He grabbed the arm which held her saber and twisted it violently as his other hand came up and began to slam repeatedly into her face. Blow after blow as her world began to dim from pain. As his fist rose into the air again blood suddenly hit her face as a lightsaber stabbed through his back and came out the front, right through his heart. He turned to look back at Luca who was still crying and her body was still shaking, but the hand which held her saber was firm as she had activated it right behind him, right where she knew his heart was.

He collapsed and Anoxa fell with him, trying to catch her breath and holding her side in pain. Luca stared at the battlefield, making certain that Vic and Anoxa were both okay. She felt numb, as if taking lives had overwhelmed every part of her; but when she heard Anoxa scream she was able to move again. She was able to snap out of it. Her soul be damned, she would not let them hurt her. With her friends starting to get up, she looked back to Seraphina but didn't know where she was.

Above them, Seraphina had reached into her coat and pulled out the purple orb she had been carrying with her. In front of her was a panel for her to place it and without hesitation her hands laid the cool, metallic object into the slot. It began to shimmer as ancient technology came to life. Just as soon as it activated Seraphina stepped back and shook her head. What the hell just happened. From where she was she saw her friends barely standing and without a second thought to the machine she raced down to check on them. She stepped over dead Sith and made it just in time to help Vic who nearly fell as he tried to support his weight on his injured leg.

"Seraphina, where in the hell did you go?" Vic asked her. His answer came a second before she could tell him she didn't know. Behind them the orb began to shimmer and crack as light flooded out of it. The padawans covered their eyes and shied back from it as the light intensified and was then followed by a powerful release of energy which filled the room with a brilliant light and shook the entire temple. From the blinding light they could make out a robed figure who stood there now unmoving.

"What is that?" Anoxa whispered.

"Is it a Jedi?" Seraphin asked.

"No...it's not," Vic said as his vision began to clear up as the force was quickly filling the room. "It's a Sith!"

The figure turned its head toward them and without so much as moving the four padawans were suddenly thrust against the far wall by a wave of raw force energy. Seraphina, Anoxa, and Vic were instantly knocked out by the impact, but Luca had managed to shield herself somewhat just before the blast hit. Even so, her body felt broken and her vision seemed to come and go as she tried to focus on the figure which was walking toward them. It held out its hand as their lightsabers flew toward it. They broke apart and then reconstructed themselves, forming two double bladed lightsabers. As the figure moved closer it looked down at Luca, and Luca saw into what she realized was a male's eyes and wasn't able to believe what she saw.

He raised his lightsabers above Anoxa, and Luca tried her best to will her body to protect her but despite her best efforts she couldn't move. As the Sith's lightsabers came close to Anoxa's flesh another lightsaber flew through the air, causing the Sith to calmly jump back to avoid the attack. Shado Vao entered, all seven of his lightsabers shining in a brilliant formation. Luca did her best to stay awake, knowing that her life and her friend's lives might depend on it.

She watched as Shado Vao and the Sith clashed as only master's of their craft could. Lightsabers swirled through the air, the two combatants flipped and dove, seeming to fly and dance a deadly duel of blades. Yet even as she watched this deadly display, she knew the ending of it. She saw as one by one Shado Vao's lightsabers were cut down until he was only left with two. She watched as he calculated what would happen and then as he stared at his students. She then watched as he put every last bit of power he had into one final assault as he lunged at the Sith...only for the Sith to raise his hand as fire seemed to materialize in front of him and instantly consume Shado Vao. She heard his screams rise up and smelled the haunting scent of burnt flesh and even as she closed her eyes and allowed the sweet darkness to take her she knew the name of the Sith. She knew his name was Infernis.

Luca was the last to wake up in the medical infirmary back at the hidden Jedi Temple. She slowly sat up, her body still aching from before. She slowly looked around at the other beds close to her as her friends were already sitting up and talking to Master Skywalker. "Luca, you're awake, good," he said with a small, sad smile. "Your friends were telling me what happened."

"I saw him," Luca said softly, her eyes haunted by his face and the sounds of Shado Vao's screams. "I saw Infernis."

"Infernis?" It was clear no one else had managed to remain conscious for the last bit, which mean that Vic...

Luca quickly looked to Vic and felt her heart break for him when she realized she was going to be the one to tell him. "What came out of that orb was a Sith."

"Yes, the others told me."

"No, I mean a Sith. A pureblood," she explained. "His name was Infernis and he killed-" Her hand came over her mouth as she felt like she was going to throw up as she remembered the smell. "He killed Master Shado Vao."

Vic's hands tightened on the bed sheet as his head turned toward her. "Master?"

"I was afraid of that." Skywalker hung his head low. They had found a body and a badly damaged lightsaber. The body had been burnt beyond recognition, but he knew it had to be him. There was no way he would have left the children unguarded. "The room your friends were telling me about was destroyed when we got there. When we hadn't heard from you after a few hours we sent a search team after you where we found you laying on the floor at the entrance along with- Well, you children are lucky to be alive."

Vic's hand went to his chest as he felt a pain there, as if he felt something within him break. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He wanted to break something and destroy things. It wasn't fair! Master Shado Vao cared about him. He trained him. He was his friend! He shouldn't have died like that. Vic's breathing quickened as he fought to remain calm. "M-master Skywalker," he said as he tried to focus. "Did you find my master's sabers?"

"Just one, but it was badly damaged."

"Can I have it?"

Skywalker looked at the boy and moved beside his bed. From his robe he pulled out a damaged lightsaber. "A Jedi isn't suppose to keep personal items. It can cloud their judgment," he said as softly as he could.

Vic's head bowed and he nodded numbly until he felt a weight on his lap. His hands reached for it and he felt his master's damaged saber there. Master Skywalker had already stood and left them so that they could rest.

The next several days they stayed in the hospital wing until they had recovered from their injuries. It was only when they were able to that they were called before the master's. Luca's lip trembled when she finally saw her master. She hurried to him and wrapped her arms around his small, furry frame. For once he didn't chastise her as he patted her shoulder. "I know what happened and what you had to do."

"Master...I didn't...I mean...I killed someone."

"I know, Luca, but in doing that you saved your friends. You must remember, that if you have the power to take a life, you also have the power to save one. What you did was not wrong, Luca, and though it hurts you now, think how much more it would hurt you if you had done nothing and your friends had perished."

She slowly sat him back down on the ground and he gave her a comforting smile. "It is not easy to take a life, my young apprentice, nor should it ever be easy to kill; but what you did, you did for the right reasons. Take solace in that."

With that he urged her to follow him. The four padawans were lead to the center of the master's' chambers and there each of them stood beside their own master, all save for Vic, who stood alone, head down and fists clenched. "Given what has happened, your masters thought that now was time for us to start you on your own path," Master Skywalker said. "To that end, I have but one question for each of you. Toa Sen, do you feel your apprentice is ready to become a Jedi Knight?"

Toa Sen placed his hand on Anoxa's shoulder and nodded. "Without a doubt."

"Ezra?"

Ezra stroked his beard and smiled. "She will make a fine Knight."

"Splyn'Ter?"

Splyn'Ter and patted Luca's leg and gave a firm nod. "To me she is already a Knight, might as well make it official."

Master Skywalker gave his approval with a single nod as he stood and placed his hands on Vic's shoulder. "And I speak for Shado Vao. Before this last mission, he had already come to me wishing for you to become a Knight. So it will be the four of you will be taken to the crystal caves so that you can create your own sabers. I know each of you feels the darkness in our future, and I am aware of the nickname you have for yourselves." He smiled and tried to lighten the mood the best that he could. "To that end, your First Order will be our first knights."


	4. Chapter 4

"We will be split up again?" Luca asked as her hand slipped into Anoxa's. Anoxa shared the same fear, but didn't want to verbalize it. In fact, they all shared that fear. Despite the atrocities that had taken place, they all knew that were it not for each other, they wouldn't have survived .

"No," Skywalker said, stunning all of them. "No, you will not. Your First Order will be a special group comprised of the four of you to take on missions in which your skills will work better as a group; but we will talk about missions and the future after you have passed the trials within the cave. Rest and meditate, for tomorrow you begin your path as Knights."

The very next morning they were woken up and shuttled to the crystal cave. Skywalker walked in with them and stood in the center of the entrance. "It might take you days to find the crystal which call out to you. I will meditate here and when you find you crystals, come back to me as that will signify your step into knighthood."

The group entered deeper within the cave and at first they went their own way until Luca began to feel a pull down one of the paths. "I think this is my stop," she told them. "I'll see you on the other side." She waved to them as she started down her own path. It twisted and turned for quite a bit until she had lost track of time from following the pull of the force. It seemed like forever she was within there until she found herself in an odd room with a trap door on the ground. Curiously she examined the area for any kinds of traps before she opened it. Below her was nothing darkness and she was about to shut the door, feeling an uneasiness below her until she heard a scream coming from within the darkness.

"Anoxa!" She shouted and without hesitation jumped down into the hole. She landed in a crouching motion and looked up to see Anoxa suspended in the air by some sort of mechanical torture device. She screamed as electricity coursed through her. Luca raced toward her and grabbed hold of one of the devices, trying to break it apart and free her. As she tugged on it, she came to the cold realization that they weren't alone.

Turning around, she stared into the yellow eyes of Infernis who now wielded a single red lightsaber.

"L-leave us alone," Luca said and used her pheromones and the force to try to persuade him to leave.

He walked through her pheromones and grinned maliciously. "Did you really think that would work on me?"

"I had kind of hoped it would..."

He smirked and then lunged at her. Luca quickly dodged him and rolled to the side. She jumped at him, slamming her fist into his face and causing him to stumble. She went to strike him again when his saber slashed across her chest, leaving a powerful burning sensation which seemed to spread with every breath. She collapsed on the ground for a second as he moved over her, and instinctively she threw her arm out, sending him flying into a nearby wall and knocking the saber from his hand. As she struggled to stand he charged at her and she pulled his lightsaber to her.

As he charged she met his gaze and in those eyes she saw not just her death, but the death of Anoxa, of her friends, of everyone. In that moment she felt rage boiling up inside her and as he swung at her with his fist she ducked down and thrust her blade up stabbing him in the chest. She killed him... She killed him! Her heart raced at the thought and as she looked up at him her racing heart froze.

"L-Luca...why?" Anoxa gasped as she choked on blood.

"Oh my God, Anoxa! No!" Luca deactivated her lightsaber and caught her friend's falling body. "I didn't...I didn't mean to. I thought you were Infernis!"

"You killed me, Luca." Anoxa stared up at her friend as her eyes rolled back and her body went limp.

Tears filled Luca's eyes as the anger she had felt when she thought she had killed Infernis boiled within her. She screamed in pure rage as she heard Skywalker behind her.

"You killed them, Luca. You killed all of them."

Luca looked around to see all her friends, their bodies lying at her feet, her hands stained with their blood and her lightsaber a dark red color. "I didn't, I couldn't...I wouldn't!"

"But you did."

Luca didn't look back as she heard Skywalker activate his lightsaber. He was going to kill her. She stared at the lifeless eyes of her friends. She had did this hadn't she? Killing...it felt good. It felt right. That was why she fought it. Why she fought so hard not to kill. Not because she was didn't want to, but because she was afraid she would grow to love it. She closed his eyes and bowed her head. If she did these awful things she deserved to die. She didn't even try to fight back as she heard the lightsaber hum through the air. Death would be a mercy. But at that last moment as the saber swung to her, she suddenly rolled forward, dodging the attack and turning around.

Behind her wasn't Skywalker at all, but rather Infernis. "Why do you fight? Let death take you before you claim more lives."

"No! This isn't right! This isn't real!"

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

Luca no longer felt the anger flowing through her, but rather a pure calm as she adopted a stance her master had shown her. If she wanted answers, if she wanted this madness to end, then she had to strike him down. "Because I would never hurt _her._ "

Infernis lunged and Luca easily countered his attack and sliced through him. All at once the world around her snapped back to normal. She was deep in the heart of the cave. There was no trap door. There was no Infernis. There was just her...and her master.

"Do you see now, Luca? You are so afraid of what you can do because you are afraid that you will hurt those dear to you; but do you see it now? No matter what, you could never bring yourself to hurt them. Your heart is too pure for that."

"I tried not to hurt him, master. Even him, I wanted to save from death. But I couldn't. When it came to my friends though, I would kill for them. I would kill to save them; but you're right master, I won't lose myself. Even if I have to fight, to kill, even if I'm lost, I know that one thing will ring true. I will not hurt them."

He nodded and disappeared. There where he stood shone too bright crystals. Luca reached out to them with the force and the two of them flew into her hand.

Anoxa had long since departed from the others and just as she was drawing close to what she believed to be her crystals she turned a corner and walked into the hallway of the Jedi Temple.

"Anoxa, you're late for your class," Toa Sen said.

"Master? What class?" she asked, rather confused at what was going on.

"We're both master's now, you can call me just Toa Sen." He lightly tapped her on the head. "And you class of younglings. What do you think?"

Anoxa stared at all the children and a large smile filled her face. "Alright kids! Let's learn space magic!"

The class all gathered around in excitement. Anoxa started her lesson for the little kids until the alarms all came on. "Okay, this is probably just someone searching for us but you guys know what to do. Go to your hiding spots and don't use the force."

She led them out only to see Sith coming from both directions, one of which was Infernis who walked toward her with a smug grin. "Kids get behind me!" She quickly grabbed one of the Sith with the force and sent them crashing into a wall before clashing sabers with another that came after her. She had twin sabers now, one a small shoto saber and another a long light whip. Using the shoto saber she slashed at the one in front of her, but while she was fighting him the younglings tried to run away only to run into another Sith who began to cut them down one by one. Anoxa watched in horror as her children were dying and screaming. Some ran away toward Infernis but they were quickly consumed by fire which turned their small bodies to cinders.

As Anoxa tried to fight for her life as well as that of her children she felt a dark rage begin to flow through her. There was just a few left that were still alive, she had to save them! Parrying an attack with her light whip she thrust her shoto saber into the Sith's face before she lunged at Infernis. She didn't care that she was pulling from the dark side, she knew what she had to do to save the children. When Infernis let flames lash out at her, she channeled her power to absorb his fire, not letting it deter her. The flames disappeared around her as she charged straight through.

When she drew near, he pulled out his saber and slashed at her, but she was prepared for it. Her whip came out and grabbed his arm, restraining it for a moment and then with a quick flick of her wrist she sliced his arm off with her whip. With Infernis exposed she thrust her shoto saber into his heart. His eyes shone bright and even in death he smiled. "You may have killed me, but the dark side has won you over," he whispered.

Anoxa could feel the dark side in her, using as much power as she had to combat his own, she had pulled too much from it. She could feel herself slipping... Even so, she watched over his shoulder as some of the kids got away and she smiled. "No, you haven't." Pulling her saber out of his chest she stabbed it into her own. She wasn't going to live as a monster. She had went to her limit and crossed the point of no return, but rather than let the dark side control her, she would go out as Jedi like her master taught her.

Anoxa gasped for air as she opened her eyes back to the cave. Toa Sen stood before and beckoned her to him. She stepped forward into the darkened cave and immediately fell down to the next level. She landed roughly, but there above her she saw her shimmering crystals. Holding out her hand they floated down to her. "Gotcha," she smiled.

Seraphina and Vic remained together, walking round and round in circles until eventually they came back to the entrance. "Where's Master Skywalker?" Seraphina searched for him, but obviously he wasn't there.

"He must have moved outside," Vic shrugged as he started toward the mouth of the cave. Something must be wrong that they hadn't found theirs yet. He was afraid it was because of him. That somehow that cave could sense him, that there was something different with him. He wanted to talk to Master Skywalker. He moved to the entrance, but Seraphina stayed in her spot. "You're not coming?"

"No. Master Skywalker said he'd meet us here."

"But he's not here."

"Then I'll wait."

Vic sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He nodded and went outside, seeing Master Skywalker by the ship. "Master Skywalker I-" From the shadows he saw him. The shadow of Infernis. "Master Skywalker! Watch out!"

Skywalker activated his saber, but a saber did nothing to protect him from the flames which licked at his flesh. Skywalker's screams filled the air even as Infernis approached Vic. "I have come to make you my apprentice."

"W-what?"

"I know the darkness within your heart. Give into it. Let me train you. Let me show you the power of the dark side."

"No," he said and shook his head. "I'm a Jedi! I would never give into the darkness."

"No?" He smiled as he held his hand up. From behind him Vic heard Seraphina gasp. She had come out when she heard Master Skywalker's screams and now she was suspended in the air as the life was being choked out of her. "Then she will die."

Infernis laughter echoed in Vic's ears as he watched Seraphina's life force drain before his very eyes. "No. No!" Vic felt the force building within him, his emotions swirling around and coming to a head as he threw his arms out. His intent was to send Infernis flying by pushing all the power he possessed into a single concussive blast, but at the last second the air seemed to spark around his fingertips as a power surged within him. His body felt the raw power and he knew instantly what it was before it even fully manifested itself. Lightning broke through the darkness of the night, erupting from Vic's outstretched hands and slammed into Infernis whose laughter quickly turned into screams. "No! You will die!"

Vic put everything he had into the force lightning and watched with dark glee as Infernis arched and screamed, unable to defend himself under the onslaught of pure dark power. Vic continued the barrage of lightning as he stood over him, his face an unreadable mask of anger. He would avenge his master. He would make this monster pay. He didn't care what power he used. This darkness was a part of him, he might as well use it. It didn't matter, did it? He was just a vessel for the power. If becoming one with the darkness was what it took to keep others safe, so be it. He would risk it...wouldn't he?

Behind him, he heard Seraphina. He could feel her heart beating. He could feel her eyes upon him and practically feel the horror she felt as she watched. In that instance he saw himself through her eyes and he quickly pulled back as the lightning stopped. "No...no." He shook his head and watched as Infernis began to heal and rise. Vic's body trembled, if it wasn't for the darkness, what was he?

"You're weak," Infernis said as if he could hear Vic's thoughts.

Vic's jaw dropped at the fear of those words being true. Everyone else was so strong, so sure of themselves, and yet he constantly second guessed himself. He swallowed hard as Infernis advanced on him. What did his friends see in him? Why did they trust him? Didn't they know that within his heart the darkness called for him? No, they didn't. Because they didn't see him that way. Seraphina didn't see him that way.

Vic steadied himself and held out his hand. "I'm not weak."

"No? Then what are you?"

"I'm a Jedi," he whispered as Master Skywalker's saber came to his hand and he thrust it into Infernis.

Vic stared at Shado Vao. "Master...I'm sorry, I gave in. I-"

"You sacrificed power."

"Master?"

"You had the power to destroy him and you gave it away. Why?"

"Because of her," he told him. "Because she thinks that I can be better."

"Then be better." He smiled at his padawan. "I know you can be better as well. I know you can be great. So believe in yourself. Believe in your own strength and there is nothing you can do."

His master disappeared and there in his place were two crystals. Vic smiled sadly as he took them. "Thank you, Master."

Seraphina was the last one stuck within the maze of crystals. She cursed herself for not being able to find her crystals. Perhaps she wasn't meant to be a Jedi...

Water dropped on her cheek and she looked up as the sky began to pour down water. She stood on a platform as she stood there confused for a moment as to what was going on and then she remembered what she was doing. She was there, there to confront him. She activated her lightsabers as she saw the dark form coming toward her.

"So, you finally came for me." The voice was rough, barely recognizable, but within it she still heard the voice of the man she loved.

"Vic, it's time," she whispered sadly.

The cloaked figure removed his head, revealing the contorted form of a Sith Lord. "Oh? It's just now time? It wasn't time when I killed Luca? What about Anoxa? What about the rest of the Jedi? It's only when you've lost everyone that now it's time."

Seraphina shook her head, her hands trembled as she walked to him. "I wanted to believe there was still good in you. I wanted to believe that I could find a way to save you from yourself."

"And yet do I look like I need to be saved?" His voice softened for a moment as he gazed at her. "Join me Seraphina."

"What?"

"Join me. We could be together. No hiding it from the masters or our friends. Just you and me. We could be happy. I could show you a world you would never even believe."

"Vic, we can't. I can't. Everything you've done, how can you live with yourself?"

"It's simple, Seraphina. I am no longer a Jedi. I am no longer bound by their rules and philosophies and you shouldn't be either! You were never meant to be a Jedi. You were meant to be more. Come with me, my love. Come and join me." He held out his hand and Seraphina slowly deactivated her lightsabers.

She had known for so long that he was continually struggling with his place. He was constantly battling the dark side, and even as he sank further into the darkness she had always held hope that he would find his way to the light; but what if she was the one who was wrong? What if he saw something more in the darkness than she could ever see in the light? Her heart ached for him. She wanted to be with him. To forget all of this and just go back to a far simpler time when none of this mattered; but she was here and now, and she couldn't just let this go away. Her eyes moved over his frame as she took another step. Be with him, be with the man she loved, or follow the creed of an order that was now in ruins. She thought back to the beginning, how she was plucked from her home and all the events that brought them here. As hard as it was, she knew what her decision was.

Her arms moved around him, embracing him in a hug.

"I knew you would choose me," he smiled as he hugged her.

Tears stained her cheeks as she shook her head. "I chose us."

She activated her lightsaber through his back, letting it stab through his body and into his chest. She was a Jedi. She couldn't live in a world without him, but she also couldn't let him continue hurting others. She was a protector, a guardian, and she would die a Jedi.

Seraphina opened her eyes and blinked a few times as Ezra stood there. "Did I see the future, master?"

"You saw something that you feared, but your heart was stronger than your fears. Despite seeing something which should have broke you, you survived and have become stronger for it."

"But what if I'm not certain what I should do? What I should be?"

"Look into your heart," he laughed softly. "You know the answer don't you?"

She balled her hands into fists and nodded. "I am a Jedi."

"I know you are," he said as he disappeared and she saw two crystals shimmering at her feet. Picking them up, she found she could no sense Master Skywalker through the cave. She hurried to it, joining the others who were sitting around him.

Once she was there, Master Skywalker opened his eyes and looked at the four youths. "Let me see your crystals." Much to his surprise he watched as each of them held out two crystals. It was rare for one Jedi to be called to two crystals and yet each of them had two. He smiled to himself. He should have learned to expect the unexpected with this group. "Excellent. This proves that you are ready to be knights. You have passed the trial of the cave, and now you will make your own sabers. The First Order will soon be deployed and you will go for the first time and make your own choices. Take the lessons you have learned from the cave to heart. Whatever you faced is a part of you, now and forevermore."

For over a year, the group went on missions together, everything from political missions to missions to eliminate threats to the Jedi. The group used Shado Vao's ship, the Secret Runner, in honor of him and because they felt that the ship was special to each of them in their own way. Using their resources and skills they grew together, bonded and became closer because of it. That year, the group did more growing than any year before as they took the lessons that the others taught them and implemented them into their lives and into their own methods.

It was after a successful mission of securing alliance with some new trading fleets that they arrived back to the Temple. They barely had time to rest before they were called to speak with Grand Master Skywalker.

"Master? What is it?" Luca asked as she and her friends arrived. Each of them had changed in their own subtle ways over the last year, be it in Luca's case wearing more clothes for one, and having her rather unique lightsaber tonfa attacked on the back of her hip. Or Vic's new robes which allowed him to hide his three lightsabers within them. Even Seraphina's new armor which went over her Jedi robes was a change as she had her twin sabers attached at her hip. Anoxa was always changing bit by bit, now with a leather jacket over a new black suit. Her hip contained her lightwhip, shoto saber, and a custom blaster, because in her mind there was no wrong tool to kill a Sith with.

"A new mission. Master Wolf Saizen and his apprentice have not communicated with us in over a day. They went on a mission to retrieve a holocron and we want you to go and check on the situation. We've lost several Jedi recently, we do not want to leave anything to chance. I know you are tired and just got back; but we need you to check on them."

Anoxa's ears perked up at the mention of Wolf as she knew his apprentice all too well. "Kobak? Yeah, we're leaving now." She didn't wait for the others as she hurried back to the ship. The group got going and upon arriving at the planet they were dispatched to they immediately tried to hail Wolf Saizen, but did not receive any word back.

"Guess we need to land." Seraphina scanned the planet for Wolf's ship as Vic and Luca brought the ship down and landed the Secret Runner by Wolf's ship. The group of knights got out quickly, just in time to see Kobak coming out of the temple.

"Anoxa?" he asked. He ran his hand over the orange mohawk spike that ran down his back. He was a bit tired looking and confused as he saw her. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Looking for you," she said with a wide smile as they joined him at the entrance. "The council hadn't heard word from you guys for a while. They sent us to come check on you."

"Oh! We didn't even think about that. Something about this planet doesn't allow our communications to get through or for them to come in to us. Nothing to worry about though."

"So what have you guys been doing?" Vic asked him.

"Trying to get through the barriers. This planet has been within our reach all this time, but just recently we discovered the temple. It was pure through accident and the barriers are powerful. We actually just got through one of the final ones. I was coming out because we felt your guy's presence. Want to come in and see it?"

Seraphina was practically giddy at seeing a new temple, though there was an air of caution about her as well. "Yes, we would."

Kobak waved for them to follow him. They entered into the temple which had high ceilings and large columns all around its sides. The first area was fairly empty with a single door which led further in. "Each door had a barrier," Kobak explained as they walked further in.

"Look at you," Anoxa gushed as she stared at him in his Jedi robes with a rather traditional lightfoil rather than a lightsaber. Apparently Wolf Saizen thought his padawan would be better suited for the more classical fighting style. "Before you know it you'll be a knight."

"I'm in no rush. I'm really learning alot from Master Wolf. I like him, he's been a really good mentor to me."

Anoxa smiled, but even as she smiled she felt a cold wave of fear sweep over her. The feeling was intense, nearly paralyzing her, and as she looked to her friends she could tell from their faces that they felt the same feeling. All at once they all turned to the door to see three figures walking toward them. "Kobak get behind me," Anoxa ordered as she activated her twin pink lightsabers.

"Who is that?" Kobak stepped back and activated his lightfoil, holding it in a defensive position. He had never felt a presence like this, his knees trembled under the sheer weight of power which began to bare down on him.

"Infernis," Vic said with a growl. He didn't hesitate to activate his lightsabers. His master's green lightsaber as well as his two blue ones he made floated around him in a defensive position.

Seraphina was next, quickly activating her two purple blades and took an offensive stance, watching and waiting.

Luca stepped forward, trembling slightly as she held her tonfa in her hand but did not activate it. She instead stood there and stared at Infernis. She quickly had her pheromones dispersed among the Sith who stood there in the shadows. She met Infernis's gaze and beside him there was an enormous monster of sorts as well as what appeared to be a cyborg. She didn't know if her pheromones would work on the cyborg, but she wasn't focused on him. She wanted Infernis gone. She had seen what he could do, she did not want him to do that to her friends. "Leave," she said, forcing herself to sound calm and commanding. She wove her force powers through them, trying to push her will onto them. "Leave and do not return. There is nothing you want here."

She watched, much to her shock, as Infernis faltered for a minute. He seemed to actually be affected, but just as quickly as she had hope they were dashed as he grinned.

"Did you really think that would work?"

"No, not really...but it was worth a shot."

"Keep them busy. I want to the holocron." As he said this, he and the cyborg began to walk past them toward the door.

"Kobak, go warn Wolf!" Anoxa shouted as she moved to defend him. Kobak took a step back. He didn't want to leave them when they clearly needed help; but Wolf needed to know so he could help. Quickly he tore off toward the back of the temple. It had twists and turns, but he knew where Wolf was so he ran straight for him.

The four knights moved to stop Infernis, but he literally waved them away without a second thought. They were sent flying to the far corner of the room, slamming into the walls as he and the cyborg disappeared further into the temple. The group struggled to stand as they raced to the door, but the large beast quickly moved between them, activating an intimidating large great saber which towered over them. It didn't say anything but rather roared in anger as it swung at them. Anoxa, Seraphina, and Vic each took positions as Vic moved back while his lightsabers went forward. They moved to attack the creature from all angles while Anoxa and Seraphina flanked it on either side to try to get in good shots while it was distracted by Vic's sabers. As they did this Luca held out her hand and focused on one of the pillars. The pillar trembled for a moment as it was violently pulled from its base and held in the air. Luca's gaze turned toward the monster who was solely focused on Seraphina and Anoxa and she smirked.

"My turn!" She shouted as she raced toward them. Just on cue both of them jumped out of the way as Luca flung the pillar toward the shocked creature. The pillar hit it dead in the chest, sending it crashing into the far wall. It roared in pain as it was crushed beneath the now broken pillar. Luca took a stand with her friends and activated her own yellow bladed tonfa in her left hand. The creature began to get up, and with its own force powers sent the shards flying toward Vic, pelting him with the debris to allow the creature to avoid his deadly blades. Anoxa took the opportunity to try to run toward the door, wanting to catch up with Infernis and help out Wolf and Kobak. She was nearly to the door when the great saber came down, grazing her side as she dodged it on instinct. She screamed in pain at the burning sensation and tumbled while the creature loomed over her.

"Hey ugly! Pick on someone your own size!" Luca shouted from above. It turned its head just in time to see Luca's tiny frame in mid-air. It raised its lightsaber to block hers, but she didn't swing with her blade. Her right hand came crashing down its face with the full power of her strength and force combined. Its jaw cracked under the attack and stumbled. It seemed momentarily dazed and Seraphina took full advantage of that, quickly striking at its legs from the side as she dashed about. Her blades sliced his flesh, not enough for it to lose the limbs, but enough to slow its movements. It swung around at her, knocking her back with the back of its strong arm. She went flying and as she landed on the ground it moved to strike at her. Luca moved in between them and raised her tonfa to block the attack. The monster was already enraged with her, so since she was in its line of sight it put all its force behind its attack. Luca blocked the first one, but even though she was strong she was a lot smaller than this creature and it was a lot stronger. Its attack nearly crushed her and it continued, blow after blow to assault her. Her arm began to burn with the continued heat of the saber slamming so close to it. She screamed and struggled to hold him.

Seraphina got up to assist and from behind it two blades quickly flew through the air and stabbed into it from behind as Vic stood there, focusing on his blades which embedded themselves into the creature's back...though despite that it kept moving. It turned from Luca and her battered and burnt arm toward Vic. It roared again, but this time before it could do anything Anoxa's light whip wrapped around it and held it firmly. "Get him," she hissed, ignoring the pain on her side as she held her whip with all her might.

Seraphina slashed at its waste, slicing deep into it and then striking its back as she moved past him. Vic moved its blades out of the creatures back and twirled them around as his third one joined in with the others and spun forward all but impaling the creature. Luca jumped up once more, using the pain of her left arm as a motivator as she slammed her fist into the creature's face, putting everything she had into it. The creature stumbled, pain overwhelmed it. For the first time in the encounter it seemed afraid. It roared once more and using all its strength broke free of the light whip which had held it and burnt into its flesh. It looked at them and then began to run toward the exit.

Luca looked to others as she held her arm. "Go after Infernis. I'll subdue him."

The girls nodded and raced deeper into the temple. Luca turned to stop the creature only to see the broken debris from the pillar raise up and then slam down onto the monster, crushing it in its weakened state. Luca looked back at Vic who had his hand out stretched, anger fueled him to a point that his body shook. "Vic!" Luca shouted. "What did you do? He was beaten. We could have taken him in."

"He works with Infernis, he doesn't deserve to live." Vic said, but he blinked and looked to her as if he hadn't even realized what he had done. Just seeing Infernis had sparked something within him, something he thought he had overcome. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself, but he saw the look of shock in Luca's eyes. She saw the darkness.

"We'll talk about this later, Vic," she whispered, he wasn't looking forward to that. They hurried to try to catch up to the others.

Anoxa and Seraphina found the ongoing battle with relative ease. Sounds of lightsabers crashing together filled the air and they ran into the hallway just in time to see Kobak impale in the chest by the cyborg.

"Kobak!" Anoxa screamed. Everything seemed to freeze for her. She saw as the cyborg had lightsabers coming out of its robotic wrists, the two blades all but turned her little friend into a gruesome shish kabob. Kobak screamed and was then dropped onto the cold stone floor like trash as the cyborg turned to assist Infernis who was battling Wolf Saizen.

Anoxa rushed to Kobak and slid beside him. She cradled his head in her lap as tears filled her eyes. Seraphina stood above her, lightsabers activated just in case. "T-take this," Kobak coughed as he held to her a Jedi holocron. "Run."

"Kobak I-"

"We will keep it safe," Seraphina said as she took the holocron from his hand and slipped it into her robe. The holocron was the priority, and she had a feeling that Infernis was here for it, it was too much to be a coincidence. They couldn't let him get his hands on it. Before she could leave Anoxa grabbed her hand in a painful grip.

"Leave him, and I will never forget it," she hissed. Seraphina didn't need to think about it.

"We have to hurry." She grabbed his legs as Anoxa held his torso. They were pulling him out as Luca and Vic joined them.

"What's going on?" Vic asked. "Where is Wolf?"

"Fighting Infernis and the cyborg. We have to get out of here," Seraphina told him.

"Get to the ship. Get it ready for launch," Luca said. She and Vic stepped through to watch the battle. Wolf Saizen was fighting furiously, blocking attacks from all sides. The cyborg had blades coming out of all sorts of places on his body and though Infernis was fighting, it was as if he was toying with the Jedi. Wolf was fighting and giving it his all, but he was losing. He had an opening on the cyborg and took it, thrusting his blade into its chest. For a second it seemed like he was going to get the upper hand, but something unexpected happened. As soon as the blade hit the cyborg's flesh it deactivated. The cyborg grinned and just like with Kobak, Wolf Saizen found himself suddenly impaled in the chest. Unlike with his student, however, he was quick enough to dodge it from being fatal; but that one strike was the end for him.

"I'm going to bring the temple down," Luca said.

"You're what?"

"Do you think you can shield Wolf?"

"Shield..." He nodded. "Yeah. Let's do this."

They held out their hands in unison. The warriors were locked in combat and none of them even took notice that the ceiling was coming down. Luca focused on the walls and the ceiling as she pulled it all down, bringing everything above the temple down on top of them. Vic was right there beside her, using the exact same power to keep the area where Wolf Saizen was safe from the debris. As the debris came down, Luca quickly felt that something was wrong. Everything should be falling, but it wasn't. Infernis looked back at them as he kept the roof floating despite Luca's best efforts. He then moved his hand as all the debris began to slam into Wolf. Vic tried to shield him, but the weight was too much. It began to crush him beneath the weight of the entire building which was now falling down on him.

"Run!" Luca yelled and grabbed his hand, pulling him with her. They raced out to their ship and got on board. Already Seraphina had it up and running and Vic raced to the cockpit while Luca got into the co-pilot's seat and turned on the guns.

"What happened? I saw the roof cave in!" Seraphina said in shock.

"Wolf is dead. We've got to go now," Vic said. "Where is Anoxa?"

"Getting Kobak hooked up in the medbay."

"How is he?"

She shook her head sadly. "It doesn't look good."

Luca turned the guns toward Wolf Saizen's ship. She fired several shots into it, obliterating the ship so that no one could access the flight records and discover the hidden temple. Their ship lifted up just as Infernis came out with the cyborg. Over his shoulder he had the large beast, carrying it as if it weighed nothing. He raised his hand up to the ship and Luca realized what he was about to do. She turned the gun to him, firing directly at them. She doubted she would get lucky enough to kill him, but with the blaster fire he couldn't focus on the ship. Soon they had escaped the planet's orbit and began to set up coordinates for a new location. They couldn't go back to the temple, not at first, just in case they were being followed.

"Where should we go?" Vic asked.

"I've got a place. Let's get further out before we make the jump," Luca said. "Just in case they try to-"

Alarms began to blare as a Sith Infiltrator rocketed toward them.

"That thing will tear us to shreds!" Seraphina shouted as she looked at the computers.

"We've got two star fighters. I'll take one. Seraphina, take the controls. Luca, do you think-"

"No, Anoxa is a better pilot than me. I'll stay on the guns here and help Seraphina." Luca pressed the comm button. "Anoxa, I know you're worried about him, but we've got a Sith Infiltrator coming at us. We need you in one of the starfighters."

Anoxa caressed Kobak's little cheek as his weak heart beat barely registered on the machines. "I'll be right there." She wiped the tears from her eyes as she stood. "Don't you die on me, kid." She hurried out of the room and tried to clear her head as she joined Vic in the docking bay. They quickly climbed in and detached from the Secret Runner. The ship was moving fast, its black frame nearly invisible against the darkness of space.

From the gunner seat of the Secret Runner Luca tried to reach out to see if she could sense who it was that was coming after them. She closed her eyes and focused, seeing if she felt the same overwhelming sense of fear from Infernis, but there was no fear, there was nothing. Just a void there until she heard clear as day a voice inside her head.

"Die."

Luca snapped from her meditation and focused on the guns. "It's not Infernis, so we might stand a chance guys. Open fire!" Just like that the space battle began. Laser fire filled the void of space. Despite the knights having trained in star fighters for years actual combat was rare. They were all skilled, but the pilot they were facing was far better than any of them. Even as it took on three opponents it dodged the laser cannons with impressive speed while it made attack runs on the Secret Runner. The ship rocked with each blast, their shields crumbling as a few shots penetrated the ship.

"The hyperdrive is out! We can't jump!" Seraphina cursed as she tried to funnel extra energy to the shields.

"Guys. We're sitting ducks. We have to take him out," Luca called.

"Working on it!" Anoxa shouted. A blast had severely compromised her ship. She was in trouble and she knew it. This guy was good, her engines weren't going to last either, but she had a rather crazy idea. Do anything to complete the objective no matter what, right? She pushed her engines to the max as she flew directly toward the Infiltrator. "Vic, distract him for me!"

"You're on a collision path," Vic said, staring at his monitor which was blinking due to the damage he had received as well. His ship wasn't going to hold together much longer either. "What are you doing?"

"I can take out his ship with mine. My space suit is fine. I can stand the void long enough for you guys to retrieve me."

"Anoxa that's crazy!" Luca yelled from the Runner.

"I know. It's perfect," she smiled.

"If you die I'll murder you!"

Her eyes narrowed as Vic began an attack course. The pilot of the Infiltrator dodge his fire with ease, but Vic wasn't concerned about hitting him. He was just driving him further toward the edge. When he got him in the right spot he let out a barrage of fire. The Infiltrator rolled through space to the side, right into the oncoming path of Anoxa's vehicle. Anoxa pressed the eject button as she was suddenly ejected into the soundless expanse of space. Her eyes stared at her ship as it slammed head first into the Infiltrator, resulting in a beautiful ball of fire.

"Vic, get back to the ship. We'll collect her."

"Roger that," Vic said with a laugh. That was just so crazy it actually worked. From the brilliance of the explosion no one but Anoxa saw the sleek form of an escape pod shoot from the inferno. The pod slammed into the ship, breaching one of its already damaged spots, hiding within the wreckage. "Guys! I think he just breached the ship!" She frowned as she got nothing but static. Her communications must have been damaged. She had no way to warn them.

As soon as Vic landed his ship he heard Seraphina on the comm. "Think you can fix the hyperdrive?"

"Already on my way." He hurried up to the hyperdrive and Luca went down to the docking bay. Anoxa had a suit to survive space, but no jetpack to control her drift. Seraphina brought the Secret Runner as close to her as she could and Luca felt Anoxa's presence. She was still alive out there, which meant that Luca wasn't going to have to murder her, yet. Together they synched their force presences as Luca reached out to her with the force and began to pull her toward the ship. While Anoxa was being cradled by Luca's force powers, she used her own to keep her straight as she was pulled past the barrier and into the ship.

"You're crazy, you know that right?" Luca said as she took off her helmet. Luca quickly moved to her, her hand coming up and lightly caressing her cheek with a worried glance in her eyes.

"The Sith is on the ship," Anoxa said in gasps.

"What?"

"There was an escape pod. It slammed into one of the sides."

Luca tried to sense for any dark side presence, but there was nothing on the ship. "Are you certain?" She met her friend's eyes and knew that she was.

"I'm going to check on Kobak."

Luca nodded and turned on her comm. "Seraphina, you and Vic okay?"

"Yeah, what's going on?" Vic asked.

"The Sith might have boarded our ship."

"You're serious?" Seraphina couldn't believe it. She quickly began to scan the ship. "I'm not bringing anything on the scanner."

"I'm not sensing anything either," Luca confirmed. "But this thing is a cyborg. There's no telling if we can sense it or not. Anoxa is going to check on Kobak. Seraphina go with her, I'm coming to meet you Vic. Keeping working on the hyperdrive."

Luca made it to Vic in record time. He seemed fine and she still couldn't sense anything. "Keep your comm on and stay here. We're screwed if we can't get the hyper drive working. I'm going to go meet up with the others. We're going to do a search of the ship." She started to turn but Vic caught her right hand.

"Hold up."

"What?"

Vic nodded to her burnt left arm which hung weakly at her side. "If you have to fight you need both your arms. I'm not as good as bacta tank, but this should tide you over." Luca gingerly held out her injured arm and he took it in both his hands. A blue light seeped from his hands and she felt a cooling sensation seem to work its way through her burnt arm. She watched in amazement as her arm began to heal. She was going to be scarred, no way to get around that, but she could move her hand again.

"Thank you."

"All too easy," he smirked. "Keep comms on. That way if you guys get into trouble I'll know."

"Same goes for you. Yell if you need us."

He went back to the hyperdrive and she ran toward the medbay. "Guys? You haven't check in. Is everything okay?" she called over the comm but got no response. That wasn't a good sign.

Anoxa and Seraphina both stood in the entrance of the medbay staring in silent fear as the cyborg loomed of the unconscious form of Kobak. "Where is it?"

He didn't speak, but both of them heard his voice in their head.

"What? Where is what?" Seraphina asked.

"The holocron. You have it."

Seraphina started to reach for it in her robe but stopped as she and Anoxa shared a glance. "We don't," Seraphina said. "We left it on the planet."

"Lies." He turned toward them and activated his wrist saber.

"We're not lying. We were running from you and Infernis. The life of our friend was more valuable than some holocron."

"You're lying!"

"No, we're not!"

"Yes, they are," Luca said as she showed up behind them. She was cautious about revealing herself as she'd been hiding at the entrance for just long enough to hear the gist of what was going on.

"Luca," Seraphina hissed in shock. What was she doing?

Luca's pheromones began to fill the air as she let the force sweep over him. She could tell from the look on his face that none of this was taking effect so she was going to have to do this old school. "We did take the holocron, but what they're afraid to tell you is that it was destroyed."

"What?"

"We know we can't kill Infernis and the only reason you're not trying to kill our friend is because to you the holocron is more important than killing a bunch of Jedi. But the truth is, it's not here. That ship that crashed into you and exploded into a raging ball of fire? Yeah, the holocron was on that. We don't have it. Trust us, we wish we did."

Everyone was silent for a moment. Luca held her breath and watched his expression. Would he believe it? He stepped away from Kobak and shook his head. "Then if you don't have it, there is no reason to let you live."

Well, he believed it at least. She was going to take that as a win. "Right, then I guess we're fighting." She activated her saber as the other girls did as well.

The cyborg took a stance which left himself wide open. No one dared to make the first move, wandering just what his game was. It was Anoxa who struck first, wanting to pull him away from Kobak. She lunged at him, and with blinding speed he kicked through her lightsaber, the blade deactivation as a lightsaber came out of his knee and sliced into the side of her arm. Anoxa slid to the side of the medbay, her arm in searing pain and the cyborg stuck in the same stance. He wasn't afraid of getting hit because lightsabers deactivated when they hit him. That put things into perspective and everyone began to back up as they tried to figure out a new plan. All eyes seemed to shift to his head, the one part of him that wasn't covered in metal.

Luca moved as he wasn't the only one with an element of surprise. No one ever suspected her fighting style and she saw how he reacted, he thought the same thing. She feigned a lightsaber attack and he moved his body into to absorb the attack so he could counter her; but what he didn't see was her fist coming up and connecting with the metal of his stomach. She expected resistance and pain, like if she was hitting metal, but instead what she connected with was squishy, almost like flesh. Either way, it did seem to cause him pain as he doubled over and stumbled back a bit.

"Don't know what it is, but it's not metal on him. It feels gross," Luca said as she took her defensive stance and watched him. "If you guys can give me an opening, it seems like he's not immune to a good ole fashioned beating."

"We can do that," Seraphina said. Anoxa was back ready to attack and the two girls made their moves. Rather than focusing on his body both were aiming for the head. The Jedi were skilled in combat and now that they knew his armor could short out their lightsabers rather than let him hit their blades they began to deactivate them at the last second so they could dodge his counter attacks.

As they did this, Luca maneuvered around them and in between them. Thankfully her small size came in handy in times like these as she was able to get underneath their attacks and land several quick blows on the cyborgs side and chest. Even though she was landing blows, she and the others knew that unless she started to rip him apart with her punches, it was just a matter of time before he would win. They could only damage his head with their blades an Luca's punches while powerful, would not be enough to take this thing down.

Luca went for another attack, but this time the cyborg completely ignored the other two as it went straight for her. It's leg shot up in a quick motion and though Luca raised her arms to defend herself it connected with her and sent her body flying into one of the tables. Her back hit painfully against one, completely knocking the table off of its mounted position as she then crashed into the wall and crumpled to the ground.

Seraphina saw the opening in that split second though and thrust her blade toward its face. It instantly began to turn, another lightsaber activating on its elbow at the last second to slightly tilt the angle of her blade. Instead of it ramming down its throat like she had intended the blade instead grazed his cheek which she noticed hurt it and didn't sort out her saber. That was good to know. She tried to recover her stance from that attack; but even as she did she realized too late that with her attack she had left herself open. She thought she had him and had put everything into striking without worrying about covering herself. His second arm came out while her's was still outstretched and with one fluid motion Seraphina screamed as her left arm hit the ground, cleaved from her shoulder in a single swipe. The pain and sheer shock of losing a limb was too much and even though she tried to fight it Seraphina hit the ground hard clutching her wounded shoulder.

Anoxa stared at her two friends who were down and readied herself. Luca was slowly getting up but it wouldn't be in time. This was it.

"Seraphina!"

Anoxa and Luca both looked to the door as Vic stood there. As promised, Luca had kept her comm on and he had heard everything. He'd hurried to them just as soon as he realized what was going on. He got there in that second that Seraphina collapsed and her arm hit the ground. He kept his eyes transfixed on her, she was so pale so lifeless... His eyes darted about the room, Luca was still trying to get up, Anoxa was wounded and this guy...this guy was the one who did it to them. He was the one who hurt Seraphina. "Get away from my friends!" Vic shouted. The force welled up inside of him and he called upon something he never thought he would. He felt the raw power course through his fingertips as he focused all his rage on the being before him. He felt it rise up inside of him, the darkness and the power which he had resisted for so long. He felt it move through out him as if begging to be released; and this time, this time...he let it. What first started out as the force pushing the cyborg up against the wall and pinning him there soon ignited into pure electricity as he channeled the dark power of force lightning. Both Zeltron's watched in amazement as Vic lit up the room with the sheer brilliance of his power.

Sparks flew and the cyborg actually screamed. It was the first sound it had made but it screamed in pain and agony as its mechanical parts began to fry under the intensity of the blast. Vic tried to kill him, he wanted to kill him, but the strain of using such a dark power and something he wasn't accustomed to was too much. The lightning ended and Vic stood there, his body tingling with its aftermath as he faced the cyborg who was still standing while Vic was having to lean against the door to support himself.

The cyborg limped forward, his mouth moving as if he was laughing at them. It was obviously in pain as smoke rose from beneath his armor. It held out its lightsabers as it advanced toward him.

"Forgetting someone?" The cyborg in its pain induced state hadn't even registered Anoxa. Her lightwhip wrapped around its unprotected throat and she kicked it from behind, having it hit the ground on all fours as she put her foot on its back and pulled at her whip. She didn't give any taunting speeches or any victory cries. She just did what she was taught to. Kill Sith. She tugged hard and the head of the cyborg was detached by the light whip. It plopped down onto the ground and rolled around in a look of horror.

Vic pushed himself off of the wall and hurried to Seraphina. He caressed her cheek and face as he examined her. He said nothing to the others and they left him to her as he scooped her up and moved her to the adjacent medical room to get her hooked up and keep her from going into shock.

Anoxa helped Luca to her feet and after glancing at Kobak to make certain he was okay she looked to the cyborg. She reached down to examine his armor, when her fingers brushed it the armor began to mold to her hand. She quickly pulled back in shock and then curiously reached for it again. The armor on the cyborg began to retreat, revealing metal limbs beneath the liquid metal armor. The armor almost seemed alive as it clinged to her and tried to travel up her arm. It hurt, like pain pricks all along her flesh.

"Anoxa? What are you doing?" Luca stared down at the liquid and touched the tip of her lightsaber to it. The liquid metal reacted and deactivated it and at the same time Anoxa felt it tighten around her arm painfully.

"Fuck!" She cried out and pulled at it. It hung to her, desperately trying to cling to her but she was stronger than it and pulled free. As soon as she did she saw dark bruises all over her arm from where it had nearly crushed her.

"That thing is messed up, and I think it's alive," she said as she stood up. The liquid metal had converged solely onto the cyborg's chest revealing its true metallic limbs.

Luca reached down and began to detach them from its body.

"What are you doing?"

"Seraphina just lost an arm. She's going to need a replacement. Might as well get one with a lightsaber in it."

"Really?" Anoxa stared down at her friend in shock, unable to believe the tone she was talking about this.

Luca paused for a moment as if she was going to say something but then thought about it. "We can't give her arm back to her... We can't go back and fix this. Vic just fried this thing with force lightning I can't... I don't know what to do." Luca looked back at her best friend and she looked tired. "I'll detach this and throw this torso in a container until we figure out what to do whatever it is that's attached to it. Why don't you go check on Vic. The girl he loves is hurt, that can't be good for him."

Anoxa nodded, but she stared at Luca for a moment, she knew there was more there than Luca was saying; but now wasn't the time to press it. Anoxa walked into the other room and moved Seraphina's coat from one of the seats as she sat it in her lap and looked to Vic who sat on the side of her bed. His face was a perfect mask of worry and Anoxa's heart broke as she felt his pain, his anger, and his fear.

"She will be okay," she assured him. "Luca is getting her a new arm as we speak."

His lips curved into a dry smile. "That's something." His hand stayed on her cheek as if he was afraid to let her go. "I should have gotten there sooner."

"Don't, Vic. You saved her, you saved all of us...with that dark side lightning."

Slowly he turned around to face her. "Going to turn me in?"

"For that? No," she said and shook her head. "You heard me, didn't you? You saved us. That's all that matters right now. This isn't the time for some debate about light and dark side. Are you in control?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Okay, then that's all that matters. Just...don't cross that point of no return. Please."

He took a deep breath and leaned down and kissed Seraphina's lips as she rested. When he didn't hear a gasp or a sound of shock from Anoxa he smirked. "That obvious?"

"Zeltron, Luca and I are empathy it's our thing, remember? I think we knew before you did."

"I need to clear my head. The hyper drive still needs fixing. I'm...I'm going to go do that." He left Seraphina's side as he stepped out, needing a moment alone to collect his thoughts and process his feelings. Never before had he felt so much power as when he used that lightning. He always assume that by drawing on the dark side you would lose control; but he had never felt more in control than in that moment. He didn't know how to process that and right now all he could think about was her. He headed to the hyperdrive, needing something to keep his focus.

While sitting with Seraphina, Anoxa reached down and felt the lump in her robe. Reaching into it she pulled out the holocron. Getting comfortable she activated it, wanting to see what Wolf had died for. Wanting to know Kobak might still died for. Wanting to know what Seraphina had lost an arm for and what Vic had lost a part of himself for.

As Luca was getting the torso locked securely in a cargo container Anoxa ran up beside her. "It's a living symbiote!"

"What?"

"The holocron, it has data about weapons ancient ones and it has data about that. That thing is alive, it has to have a host to survive or else it will die."

Luca stopped locking it up and took the lid off. Armor that protects from lightsabers? That could be really useful for someone who fights hand to hand against such deadly weapons. "It also drains the user's life force."

"Come again?" Luca asked as she looked back to her friend.

"It needs a host to live, it gives them power but drains their life force. Whoever wears it will live a half life."

"Imagine if someone were to wear it. They would be immune to lightsabers, they might could stand a chance against Infernis. I could wear this...I could risk my life to keep this thing alive." Luca stared at Anoxa, realizing that her friend barely heard anything she had just said. There was more to this story. "What else does it do?"

"It can heal. Bring someone back from the brink of death." Luca sat back as everything fell into place and she realized what her friend was struggling with.

"You want to put it on Kobak."

"Yes. No. I don't know. He's dying. This could save him."

"But you're afraid it could also curse him too."

"We have no idea fully what it does."

"We could ask it."

"Ask it?"

"You said it's alive right? It has to have some semblance of thought. The cyborg was able to channel the force through it so there's a good chance it's force sensitive and we can commune with it." Luca patted the spot beside her. "Sit. Let's meditate."

Anoxa took a deep breath as she sat and Luca took her hand. Together they reached out to try and communicate with it.

"Dying."

The voice rang within their minds as they connected.

"We know you are," Luca said. "So is our friend."

"Can you heal him?"

"Yes."

"If we put you on him and you heal him can we take you off and put you on someone else?" Luca asked.

"No."

The voice seemed to grow weaker with each successive answer until their connection was broken. "It doesn't have much time."

"Neither does Kobak." Anoxa looked at Luca.

"It is your call. I'll back you up no matter what." Luca squeezed her hand and smiled.

Anoxa took a moment and then nodded. "Let's do this." With Luca's help the got the torso back to Kobak an Anoxa put his hand against the symbiote. Just like with her the metal began to crawl up his arm. It moved and stretched, covering every last inch of his body up to his neck, just as it had with the cyborg. Anoxa watched in suspense filled dread as his heart monitor and vitals began to fluctuate like crazy. His body arched and even though he remained unconscious he seemed to scream as he thrashed out.

"It's kill him!" Anoxa reached to put her hand into it, to pull it off of him, but Luca's hand shot out at the last second.

"Wait, look." She pointed to the monitor as everything began to stabilize. Kobak's expression went from one of pain to one of deep sleep once more. "It looks like it's working."

"I just hope I did the right thing."

"Sit, watch over him. I'm going to go see how the hyperdrive is coming." Luca rubbed her friend's back as she sat there beside Kobak. He was going to live, but what sort of life was he going to have?

Luca went to the hyperdrive to check on Vic and was relieved to hear the sound of the engine powering on even as she neared him. "You got it fixed?"

"Yeah," he nodded as he sat down the tools.

"Good. I'm going to go put us on a course for a place we should be safe at. They'll have doctors there that can get Seraphina fixed up and we can rest before going back to the temple. Anoxa is going to jettison the parts of the cyborg that aren't important out of the ship while are in hyper space. I don't want that creepy fucker anywhere on here."

"Good. That's...that's good."

"You want to talk?"

"About?"

"The fact that the girl you love's arm just got cut off? The fact that you just turned into a freaking lightning rod? I mean, we could go over the fact that Anoxa just put an alien symbiote on Kobak, but honestly I don't even know what to think yet on that one."

"Wait, come again? What was that last part?"

Luca waved it off. She waved all of it off. "It's nothing. None of it matters. You're okay, right?"

"Yeah, I am."

"And you'd tell us if you're not?"

"Of course."

"Good. Because you know, there's only two ways that this could end if you weren't."

He was silent but looked down at her to meet her fierce gaze.

"Either you kill us, or we kill you," she said and then patted his chest. "So don't let us get to that point."

"If it does, if it ever gets there, would you?"

Luca paused. "Are you asking me to?"

"Yes."

"Then yes, I'd do it. To protect Seraphina and Anoxa, you better bet I will."

"Just in case. I'd like to know there is someone there keeping an eye out."

"Both Anoxa and myself will. Now go see your lady. I'm going to put in the coordinates to Isis. I've got a whole lot of people that owe me favors there and between you and I, I could use a good drink."

The two Jedi walked back from the engine and then headed their separate ways. Vic went to sit with Seraphina and Luca went to the pilot's seat. There she entered in the coordinates and sat back as the ship began to enter hyperspace. She could sense everyone on the ship and mentally she was wondering how everything went to hell and back so quickly? Her heart felt heavy and she didn't like this feeling. She didn't like being the serious one, but she was worried about all of them. She wanted to see Shepard, to relive simpler times. One visit. Just for old times sake because she needed something less crazy than the Jedi. She needed something to bring back the spark of happiness she once had. It was a two day journey to Isis, and given any other catastrophes she was going to meditate.

Seraphina woke up a few hours later. Her shoulder ached and as her right hand moved to it and she felt the bandaged nub of where arm use to be. She bit her lip in pain and tears welled up in her eyes. It was gone. Her arm was gone. Her entire body felt off as if her center of balance was off. She tried not to focus on it, she knew she could get a replacement; but her arm was gone. She couldn't wrap her mind around it and the pain was just too much.

She felt a sudden rush as an injector was placed against her good arm and pain medicine filled her body to dull the sense of agony she was filling. Her gaze moved over to Vic who sat beside her. She smiled a bit and with her good hand she took both of his. "It's gone..."

"Yeah, it is," he said softly. "I'm sorry. I should have gotten there sooner."

"What happened? We won, I take it?"

"Uh...yeah, Anoxa beheaded him. We're keeping one of his limbs for you." He looked away from her, his hands gripping hers tightly.

"I guess that's something. I wish I had been able to see it." Her eyes scanned his face and she could tell something was wrong. She was the one that had lost an arm, but he was the one who looked like he was suffering. "What is it? What aren't you telling me? Is someone else hurt?"

"No, no it's just, when I saw you own on the ground. I tapped into the dark side. I pulled from it, and I electrocuted the hell out of him. I gave in, and it made me more powerful than I ever felt before."

"Oh Vic...no, please tell me you didn't." Her hand pulled away from her and his jaw dropped slightly as if he had just been slapped. That simple action felt like a stab in his heart.

"I did..."

Seraphina's hand slid up to his face and caressed his cheek. Her mind went back to her vision, something she had never told him about; afraid that in doing so it might end up being a self fulfilling prophecy. "And did it feel good to use that power?"

"Yes and no. It felt raw and powerful and was fueled by emotion. It felt unlike anything I have ever done with the lightside of the force. It felt natural to me and so foreign at the same time."

"Do you think you could draw upon that power again?

"Yeah, I think I can. I can feel it there inside of me. My hands still tingle from using it."

"I'm worried about you."

"I know." Her hand slid down to his robes and she pulled him to her as she kissed him.

"I will not let you go down that path and if you do I will not let you go alone." His arms moved around her best he could without holding her as he held her against him.

Anoxa sat by Kobak and watched him. The symbiote had solidified on him, forming a rather form fitting armor over his frame, much like a skin suit. His hands and feet took on a claw like appearance while still leaving his appendages free to wield a lightsaber.

She worried about him, worried as to whether or not she had made the right choice. She had saved two lives in the process of this, his and the symbiote, but is this what he would want? To be eternally bound to something like that and she didn't even know the full effect of it; but it was either that or lose him. She couldn't. She just couldn't let that happen. Not when she had the means to save him. If he was angry with her or hated her afterward she could live with that. She could live with never seeing him again just to know that he was alive and well.

She looked more into the holocron and went over the list of weapons. Scanning through any that caught her eye. A blaster? Lon Lon Guan Plasma Hand Cannon, also listed as LLG-PHC-013P. Last known location, Isis. Anoxa sat back and mused that over. While she was still terribly worried about Kobak, a new blaster might help reconcile just a bit of her grief.

The next day passed without incident or any real mirth. They each remained relatively secluded, each lost within their own thoughts and meditating to their own needs. When they finally neared Isis, Luca let out a sigh of relief. Half expecting the planet to be blown up or just not there with the way that their luck had been transpiring lately.

"Alright guys, I'm bringing us in for a landing. If you look out your windows you will see why this place is amazing," Luca called over the comms. As they broke atmosphere everyone realized that the planet was made entirely of crystals. It shimmered under its sun causing rainbows to cover nearly every inch of it. It was breathtaking in its beauty, looking like something straight out of a picture book. As they got down Luca sent a transmission, a series of codes to let them know she was friendly before she landed. She bounced up and down, for a brief moment her friends saw in her the little girl they had known so long ago.

"What can you tell us about this place?" Seraphina asked as she pulled her robe over her to hide her missing limb.

"There are bars a plenty. Tattoo parlors. Fighting rings. Every illegal thing you can imagine here. Fist fights are how people say hello. Watch your back for assassins, cut throats, smugglers, and the like."

"And who are our friends here?" Vic asked.

"The assassins, cut throats, smugglers, and the like. Now let's go!" She opened up the door and took a step out right as a blaster bolt signed the ground by her foot. On either side of the walkway were armed guards. None of them looked official in their rag tag armor, but all of them bore matching symbols on them.

At the very end was a human and a Shistaven. The human wore a similar type battle armor to some old Empire armor their troops wore, along with a long dark brown trench coat. His face was hard and his brown eyes piercing, the gun at his hand was pointed directly at Luca. The brow furred Shistaven flexed its claws menacingly as it stared her down as well.

"Luca... I thought these were your pirate friends?" Anoxa whispered.

Luca's eyes narrowed as she held up her hands. "Shepard. Drax. Who got to you? Empire or Sith?"

"Don't talk like you know me," Shepard said as he aimed his gun at her head. "You come here after what? A year? Acting like you own the place. You should know things change kid. People change."

"Yeah, it seems like they do. I never thought they'd get to you. I always thought you were one of the good ones."

"I am one of the good ones in my story. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you now and save myself a lot of trouble."

There was silence as tension filled the air, so thick that you could probably barely cut through it with a lightsaber.

Luca took a deep breath. "Because you want to see me naked."

Shepard met her gaze and then laughed as he holstered his gun. "Damn straight I do."

All at once all the armed guards began to laugh and even Drax howled in laughter. Luca ran down the steps and hugged both of them, giving them each a kiss on the cheek. "Our ship is crapped out and needs repairs. One of my friends got her arm cut off. We have a spare but need someone to fix it. Also could use some med supplies."

"Do I even want to know what the hell you jedi got yourselves all messed up with?"

"I don't even know," she groaned. "Can we talk it over drinks at your place?"

"You act like you have a choice."

"Uh...Luca, what are we doing? What's going on?" Vic asked.

"I'm going with Shepard and Drax. You guys just you know, have fun and don't die. Until we get back on that ship I'm not Jedi-ing." She waved to her friends and then began to talk it up with her other friends.

"We just got dumped," Vic said.

"Harsh." Seraphina handed the robot arm to the medical assistants who began to lead her away to the medical bay.

Vic looked over to Anoxa. "Guess it's just you and me."

"I'm going hunting for a gun." Before Vic could ask questions Anoxa took the holocron and went to find a speeder to follow up on the coordinates.

"Oh...no, that's cool. Leave the blind guy here." He stopped and listened to the sound of music, laughter, and drinking. "Well...I mean, I guess I can have a little fun."

Kobak continued to remain in his coma.

"Have you two been staying out of trouble?" Luca asked Drax and Shepard as they sat down and drank together.

"As much as we can. Things have been going well here though. What about with you?"

"Good. More or less. You know, every day you get to live is a good day with the Jedi."

"If you honestly hate it that much, Luca, why don't you just leave them? You know there is always a place for you among us," Drax said. Luca smiled and had to stand on her chair to reach up and rub his ear.

"Because, this is my life. I've got people I've got to protect same as you guys do."

"Ever imagine a life where you weren't a Jedi?" Shepard asked.

"Every day," she admitted as she downed something that burned and made her hear colors. She shook her head as she slumped down into her chair with a smile. "But you know, being kidnapped and all, makes it kind of hard to imagine anything else. All I know is the Jedi and you guys."

"You make that sound like a bad thing," Shepard said as he leaned forward and kissed her.

"Not at all." Luca smiled into the kiss and was suddenly scooped up.

"Drax, handle my stuff. I'll be preoccupied for an hour."

"Two."

"Two hours."

"Maybe three."

"You know what, Drax, you just do everything today. Yeah, that sounds good." With that Shepard carried Luca back to his room while Drax shook his head and downed some drink before tossing some meat into the air and snapping at it with his teeth.

"Crazy loves crazy," he smirked.

Anoxa grunted as she climbed up a steep cliff. This sucked. That gun had better be up there! The last time she went climbing like this a Sith lord was released. She would make certain not to put any shiny orbs in any slots and repeat past mistakes. Though, to be fair, at least she wasn't the one who released the last one. When she finally climbed to the top she took a small breather before she made it inside what might be some sort of aging temple? If so it was nothing like she had seen before. On the ground were bodies of the Empire, nothing more that skeletons now but they were there and their armor was still intact. There were a few more bodies in rags, each bearing the same symbol that she saw everyone wearing in town. She searched through the cave temple for a while, going through all the nooks and crannies but not finding anything of any value. She didn't find a single blaster! Not even the corpses had blasters!

She knew it had been a long shot, but it was at least worth a shot. Still, she hated that she didn't find it. Though just because it wasn't here didn't mean that it wasn't somewhere out there in the galaxy. Maybe a little far seeing could help? She placed her hand on a pedestal, the only place in the room which made sense for some ancient relic to be and closed her eyes as she tried to focus on it. Hoping against hope that she could use the force to direct her where to go. She felt the familiar rush of being sent forward in time as she tried to keep her mind focused on the gun. Rather than see the gun, however, she saw Luca and Shepard and... Anoxa's eyes opened as even she blushed. "Way to go, Luca..."

Hours later Anoxa returned and joined Vic in a bar. "How did the trip for the gun go?"

"Not well," she pouted. "Any news on Seraphina?"

"Yeah, they finished the surgery. She's going to be just fine. I'm about to head that way and see if she woke up yet. Want to join me?"

She shrugged. "Sure. Then I'll go check on Kobak."

The two of them got up from the bar and headed to the medical bay. They found Seraphina sitting up staring at her new arm.

"How is it?"

"Sore, but it's okay." She moved her arm and twisted her wrist watching as a lightsaber popped out of it. "That's going to take some getting accustomed to."

"I'm glad you're okay," he smiled and looked her over. "You going to be able to leave anytime soon?"

"I'm going to stay the night here, but I'll be released in the morning."

"Want me to stay here with you?"

"I'm a big girl, Vic, I'll be okay," she promised. "Mostly it will be me doing some training to get accustomed to the arm so that I don't accidentally kill someone with it."

"That's...that's a good idea," he nodded.

"Hey guys!" Luca hiccupped as she sauntered in, barely walking straight as she looked at all of them.

"You're wasted," Anoxa laughed.

"Yes, yes I am. Thank you for noticing." She tried to center herself as she tried to remember what she came here for. She snapped her fingers when it finally came back to her. "Shepard gave us a room to stay in."

"I'm surprised you're not just staying with him," Anoxa teased.

Luca smiled and shrugged. "We'll see how the night goes. You guys want to come check it out though so I can show you where it is?"

Vic looked to Seraphina who shoved him playfully. "Go. I'll be okay."

Vic and Anoxa joined Luca, each holding one of her arms to keep her up straight. She walked up some steps to a room which was set away from everything else. "Here we go." She opened it up revealing a rather nice looking apartment of sorts. "This is my home away from home."

"This is nicer than our place at the temple," Anoxa pouted from the doorway.

"And bigger," Vic said as he looked around. Luca was about to invite them inside when a voice interrupted them.

"We take it you are the Jedis?"

The trio stopped and looked behind them as four mercenaries moved in, two on either side. Luca shut the door to her room, not wanting it to get messed up as clearly something was about to go down. "Perhaps," she said, her pixilated nature leaving her rather quickly as she looked between them. "Why does it matter?"

"Because you guys have a rather large bounty on your heads," the one man said as he leveled a gun at them. "And we are here to-"

"You." Vic said and pointed at the leader who was talking. "Shoot your friend in the head."

The man stopped mid sentence turned and fired a blaster round right into the man's head beside him. The man crumpled to the ground and the leader took a step back in shock.

"Jesus Vic, what the fuck!?" Anoxa yelled in shock.

"What? They were going to shoot us!"

Luca held out her hands and let her pheromones engulf the remaining three. "Do you know why the price on our heads is so high? We are monsters. With words we can have you kill each other. Money is not worth your lives. So run!" They seemed to hesitate so she yanked the leaders gun out of his hand with the force and had it fly right into her hand. That was the final straw. All three of them took off running.

"Okay, Vic, we're going to have to have a talk about that," Anoxa said.

"He was going to shoot us," he repeated.

"So? He wasn't a threat. We probably didn't even need lightsabers to take them out. Luca sure as hell didn't!"

"You guys do this. I said I'm not Jedi-ing till we get back to the ship. So I'm just...I'm done." Luca waved them off as she went into her room to sleep.

"Vic, what was that?"

"Me protecting you guys. I thought that was obvious."

"By getting some drunk idiot to kill his friend?"

"If he had fired and hit Luca, would you have let him live?"

"Well...no," she admitted.

"Then don't get mad at me for just preventing that from happening." He walked into the room as well. The sun was going down and suddenly he was filling drained. Anoxa looked at the dead body and the blood. Who was going to clean this up? Maybe they had a janitor or something? Either way, she wasn't. She headed into the room as well.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning they were woken up by the door opening and Seraphina walking in. She had a puzzled look on her face and as she stepped aside they saw the body was still out there.

"Your boyfriend had someone shoot their friend in the face," Luca said as she walked to her kitchen to get some water and tablets. She had a hangover from hell and still wasn't Jedi-ing.

"What the hell Vic!?"

"That's what I said!" Anoxa threw up her hands and glared at Vic as if to prove she was right.

"Self defense!"

Luca just groaned and rubbed her temple. Her friends were draining. They just...they drained her.

"So, uh, not to interrupt, but there's a dead body out here. Someone want to explain what happened?" Shepard asked as he walked in.

"Bad men. Tried to collect a bounty on Jedi. It didn't end well," Luca told him.

"More Jedi bullshit. Got it. You know what, speaking of Jedi bullshit there is a large ship coming this way. The entire planet is on red alert."

Luca sat down her glass and everyone stared at him. "Any idea who it might be?" Vic asked. "Sith? Empire? Infernis?"

"Infern what now? Who is this and should I be concerned?" he asked as he looked at Luca.

"Jedi bullshit and yes. Yes you should be. We'll go over that later. What's the situation like?"

"You and I are discussing this. Don't think I won't remember." He said and motioned from his eyes to Luca's with his hand. "Now then, large ship. Can't tell who it is, but it is on a direct course for here. We're getting people ready to mobilize for ground combat but also getting ships ready to leave. It's going to take hours to evacuate and we don't have that time."

"Give me a second, I might can give us an idea of what we're fighting against." Anoxa stopped what she was doing and used her far seeing ability to focus directly on the threat. It was still far out, but she could feel rage and she saw the triangular shape of the ship. She knew who it was. "Sith. Krayt's Sith, not Infernis."

"Great. Just great," Shepard sighed.

The door opened up once more and out of nowhere Kobak poked his head into their room.

"What the hell is that?" Shepard asked, eyes wide as he stared at the mechanical monstrosity that walked in to join them. and as soon as he did he was tackled by Anoxa who hugged him.

"Three guesses and the first two don't count," Luca said.

"Jedi bullshit?"

"Got it in one."

"So...hi guys," Kobak said as he smiled to Anoxa. "Um...what's...what's going on? I woke up in a ship and uh...pretty certain I was dead and now I'm not and uh kinda panicking here."

"You a Jedi, kid?" Shepard asked.

"Y-yeah?"

"Great. Now we have five generals for the fight."

"Fight? What fight?"

About that time the alarms went off. "Follow me," Shepard said. The group got dressed and hurried out to follow him. He lead them to the command center where Drax was already pulling up information.

"We've got tie fighters moving in and dropping off some men. We've got a full battalion moving in from the north along with a few massive objects. Scanners suck due to the crystals, but my guess is AT-AT maybe some chicken walkers."

Shepard ran his hand across his stubble and nodded. "Alright. That's...that's going to suck." He looked to the Jedi. "Any of you good with ranged weapons?"

All hands pointed to Anoxa who waved slowly. "Alright. I've got a toy to show you."

"Want me to jump in?" Drax asked.

"No, I need someone I can trust at command to monitor the situation."

Drax nodded. "Then give them hell for me, and remember the deal if anything happens."

"I'll be upstairs waiting with a drink for you." The two men bumped fists and grinned before Shepard lead the Jedi to a hangar where thousands of weapons were stored, most of them illegal. He came to a large black box and opened it up revealing a rather ominous set of torpedoes. "These things are highly destructive and highly illegal. They're shoulder mounted proton torpedo launchers. These bad boys have been on my Lifemas list for a long time. We will have four shots a piece to do a hell of a lot of damage to them."

"Oh, I like," Anoxa whispered as she picked one of the heavy pieces of artillery up.

"If they're coming from the north I know a cutoff point where can take them by surprise. You've got ten minutes and then we move out." Shepard was already barking orders to others, telling his men they would be broken up and put under Jedi and himself.

"I'm glad to see you're up," Anoxa said as she examined Kobak and then pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thanks, I'm still confused as to what's going on though."

"When this is all through I'll tell you. Right now do you think you can fight?"

"Yeah, I feel good. Real good."

"Awesome. Then let's go kick some Sith ass."

The group took charge of a few soldiers a piece as they went to a canyon area where they could get the best advantage spot against the oncoming horde of Sith soldiers. Everyone took their spots, each hiding in different spots. A few of them, mainly those with the torpedoes stayed on the top of the canyon, while two groups, comprised of Kobak and Vic, stayed on the canyon floor to mop up the ground troops.

Off in the distance everyone watched as a hundred soldiers marched directly toward them, accompanied by an AT-AT and two AT-STs.

"Here I was, ready to just have a fun day relaxing and not letting the Jedi ruin my favorite place in the world!" Luca groaned as she looked back at her group, most of which she had drank with and fought with before. She cracked her knuckles and smiled at them. "Ready to see how a pissed off Jedi fights?"

"Alright, everyone get ready to fire on the AT-AT," Shepard said.

"Shouldn't we save some just in case they get through the bottleneck?" Vic asked.

Anoxa shrugged and lowered her torpedo. That made sense. Just in case.

Luca wasn't paying any attention to the conversation as she planted her feet and held out her hands toward the AT-AT. This was going to hurt, but if it worked it was going to be awesome. She held her hands up and focused solely on the AT-AT. Her arms trembled as she felt the great weight of the mechanical monster as if she was trying to lift it up with her bare hands. Her feet sunk in on the canyon wall, and felt every last muscle of hers strain and pull. Slowly the AT-AT began to rise up into the air, its legs flailing as it tried to walk through the air. "Give. It. Hell!" Luca shouted.

Shepard unleashed a torpedo, nailing the side of the now immobile machine. Luca waited for Anoxa, but no blast came. Instead she saw blaster fire from all corners as her friends and their troops as they unleashed hell upon the unsuspecting troop. In the midst of the blaster fire, Kobak and Vic charged into the fray, slicing and hacking at the troops who were now being shot from above and being attacked from below.

Luca grunted, unable to keep the AT-AT up anymore. Shepard nailed it again with another torpedo. "Okay...that's it. Go to hell!" She pushed at it with the force, trying to crush it, but she had held it up for too long and she felt completely drained. She wouldn't be able to destroy it, but she fully intending to cause some damage with it. She shoved it with what strength she had left and watched as it hit the ground, still on its legs, but it tumbled a bit from the force. Its massive framed slammed into one of the AT-STs crushing it against the side of the canyon wall. It exploded against the side of the AT-AT, which at least scratched it a bit.

Luca fell to one knee, breathing heavily as she looked to the men beside her. "Well? Let's take out the trash."

Her soldiers entered the fray then, firing their blasters to help thin out the ranks. The battle was gruesome, with people dying all around them, both friend and foe. Luca was watching people she know scream as their lives were ended. She tried not to focus on it, and just focus on the battle ahead.

Shepard fired another rocket at the AT-AT while it was trying to get its bearings, but his aim was thrown off as the ground erupted beside him. He ducked behind cover as the AT-ST began to fire on his location. "I can't get a clear shot at the big one. I need someone to take out the AT-ST."

"I've got this!" Kobak shouted as he led his team forward. The AT-ST focused on him then firing rounds all around him. Kobak moved quick though, dodging them with graceful skill, the men with him were not so lucky. They were cannon fodder to the death machine, but Kobak made it to the feet of it, and that was all he needed. He jumped up, using the force to push him higher as he swung his blade through the head of the AT-ST. He landed behind it in a crouch as the machine staggered and then exploded behind him. "We did it guys!" He said happily and then looked behind him. "Guys? Oh! Oh... Oh no..." He then looked around and realized he was alone with Sith troopers all around him.

Lightsabers slashed through the group in front of him as Vic and his troops came from the side. "We've got you covered."

Blaster fire echoed over his head as a few troopers from the sides were suddenly shot down. "And I've got you," Seraphina said over the comm.

Anoxa surveyed the battle ground as she fired. Some of the main forces were breaking off toward her group who were on their own away from the others. They had managed to snipe quite a few of them unnoticed, but now they were getting swarmed. She looked at her torpedo and thought back to Vic's idea of saving them in case they broke through the bottleneck. "Fuck that," she said as she grabbed it and aimed it at the first group. She fired into the horde and watched with a rather sick pleasure as they all suddenly turned into a red mist. She stroked the torpedo launcher and smiled. She liked this. Loading up another one, she began to fire into the crowd, quickly thinning the already compromised number of troopers that had lost the protection of two of their three vehicles. The AT-AT finally righted itself and in a brief second the tide was almost turned as it began to blast the surrounding area with its powerful gun. The canyon walls shook and the Jedi and their troops fell back to cover as they tried to plan what to do next. They were limited in their ground capabilities and the troopers were now regrouping.

"Any of you Jedi got any tricks to take that thing down?" Shepard asked as he loaded his final torpedo into his weapon.

"Not particularly," Seraphina told him.

"Then I guess I get to play the hero." Shepard quickly got up from his cover, exposing himself for a moment as he took sight. He locked onto the AT-AT and fired his final round into its side. The explosion rocked the AT-AT, threatening to throw it to the ground, but it managed to keep its legs under it as its head turned to him. Shepard dove for cover, the earth around him erupted under the blast, sending shards of dirt and rock and crystal everywhere.

"SHEPARD!" Luca screamed. She had lost contact with him. The entire area where he was at was seemingly no more. Her heart began to race as she stared down at the AT-AT which was still advancing. Rage. Something which she had always kept bottled up inside of her finally broke through. Anger flooded her small frame and she trembled under the intensity. While moments before she had felt too weak to even move a feather with the force, all at once she felt as if she could take on the entire Sith army by herself. She reached out and felt the force wrap around the AT-AT. The anger consumed her, and while she had always been taught that anger made you lose focus, she had never felt more focused in her life. She was going to kill them all. No more holding back. With one fluid motion she felt the top of the AT-AT crush under might as she pulled the beast down. It fought against her, but she was in no mood to play. Not anymore. The AT-AT toppled over then unable to fight her due to the damage it had already taken. It fell down among a large group of troopers that were trying to run, but failed to escape it. Luca turned from her men and started to advance on Shepard's last location even as the AT-AT's core fireballed into a brilliant explosion.

"Kill the survivors," she ordered to her men as she left them to help the others clean up the trash. Luca walked among the dead bodies of friends and acquaintances until she found Shepard. He was bleeding heavily with blood coming out of every orifice, but he was still breathing. She knelt beside him and ordered some of their soldiers that were shooting to come assist.

"You idiot!" She growled as she looked him over. "Were you trying to get yourself killed?"

"That wasn't the plan," he grimaced.

"Then what was it?"

"Someone once told me not to play the hero. I hate following orders." He coughed up blood and smiled up at her. "You've got a pretty face. It would be a shame if something happened to it."

Luca bit back tears as she shook her head. "You idiot," she repeated. She stroked his head and kissed his forehead as the soldiers finally came to where she was. "Watch him. Make certain he doesn't do anything else stupid."

"I make no promises." She squeezed his hand and then got up and looked back at the battlefield. They had won. With just a few Sith troopers left, somehow they had managed to survive. For a moment, the raged subsided. For a moment, she felt the peace of her training. Then she saw lightsabers cut through the hull of the damaged AT-AT as two Sith Hunters entered the battlefield and advanced upon Kobak and Vic, both of which had lost all their troops and were weakened from the battle already. Luca's eyes traveled to Anoxa who had dropped her cannon and jumped down into the fray, racing toward them. Luca's heart began to race and her breathing picked up as the rage began to simmer again. No more.

She and Seraphina raced from their position and headed toward them as well, but the fight had already begun.

Anoxa and Kobak focused on one while Vic fought the other. Any normal day the group probably could have wiped the floor with them. But they had just spent all their energy fighting off an invasion force. They were weak and tired and their movements reflected that. The Sith hunter slashed Vic across the chest, searing a long mark straight across him before it kicked him in the chest and sent him to the ground.

Vic rolled and recovered, but his wound was deep and his connection to the force was faltering. His vision seemed to blur as the figure advanced toward him. The sounds all around him faded away as he watched his death come to him. He couldn't move, his body was too weak an in too much pain. He'd been fighting on the front lines and already been hit by blaster fire and shrapnel before. He was on death's door and he knew it. He had promised Seraphina, promised everyone that he wouldn't do it, but he wanted to live!

One hand held his chest, willing the wound to close as the other stretched out to the advancing Sith ready to strike him down. "Not today," he whispered as lightning arched from his hand and slammed into the shocked Sith who was caught with the full force of it.

The screams of the Sith caused both Kobak and Anoxa to look over at Vic and him in shock. Kobak stepped back, fear now filling his eyes. Jedi did not use force lightning! What was going on? In his moment of fear the Sith before him grabbed Kobak with the force and slung him into a wall before he began a vicious assault on Anoxa who countered his flurry of blows and tried to strike at him as well.

Vic's hand fell to his side, the last of his power drained. The Sith's armor was crackling and smoking, his body strained to move a single limb but still he advanced. This was really it.

From out of the corner of his eyes Vic saw a bright light suddenly pulse from Anoxa. It wasn't at all like lighting, but rather a warming glow which seemed to sear the air around the Sith. He watched as both of them took steps back as some sort of invisible pain began to attack their bodies. He had never seen this attack before and at first was happy for it, until he began to feel the burning sensation within him. His eyes darted to Kobak who seemed unaffected by it; but the pain was horrible to Vic, threatening to kill him faster than the Sith did. He crawled away, nearly oblivious to anything else. The attack was made to hurt Sith, to burn them with the light side of the force, was his heart really so tainted by the darkness that the even the light side considered him dark? The Sith managed to raise his blade at Vic, but a single blaster bolt echoed through the air. The Sith quickly moved to deflect, but as his blade connected with the round it exploded, sending him flying backwards.

Shepard stood on the ridge, a look of determination on his face as he used one of the crystals to steady himself. Luca looked up, just in time to see a square blaster bolt from the Sith slam into Shepard, knocking him backwards out of her line of view. Luca pushed herself faster and a pink hand came out from behind him and suddenly turned the Sith toward her. Luca's right hand was engulfed in a force flame as she punched her hand through her opponent's chest. Her hand went through his damaged armor like it was nothing and went straight for his heart. Without even a look of remorse or regret she pulled his heart from his chest and held it up for him to see. The fire in her hand began to cook the heart and her fearsome gaze started to turn toward the other Sith. Her first instinct was simple, tell him to drop his weapon. He wasn't going to win. But as she turned to look at him her entire world shattered. She had lost her connection to Shepard. With that one blast, it was like he was gone. His life force just...gone.

Her eyes met Anoxa's who starred in horror at her friend, having never seen her do anything like that before. The look of rage on Luca's face was a mask she had never seen on her friend and the look scared her. She was so transfixed by that one act that when she went to counter the Sith's blade, she didn't realize it was a feint until it was too late. The Sith sliced through her right leg, causing her body to tremble as it fell to the ground.

Everything seemed to stop for just that split second as the entire group took in that brief moment as if it lasted an eternity. Then all at once Luca screamed. She crushed the now ashen heart in her hand as she moved to lunge at the remaining Sith. She didn't even bother with a lightsaber, fully intent to rip him to shreds. Whether he was stunned by her lack of blade or he was shocked by the look of just pure blood lust on a Jedi's face, she never knew. Before she could reach him the air around his blade shimmered and rippled and then the blade found itself firmly lodged in his head. Vic's hand was outstretched with Seraphina's hand on his shoulder, allowing him to draw from her presence to bend the space around the other Sith.

No one said a word for a moment. There was just deathly silence between the remain soldiers and the Jedi. Kobak was finally the one to break the mesmerizing nothingness as he hurried to Anoxa. "Anoxa! Anoxa!" He hugged her to him, scared now more so than he had ever been. He was confused, lost, and afraid. He had just seen people he remembered looking up to, use dark powers and let darkness flow through them as if it was the most natural thing imaginable. Was he truly still among Jedi? And the only one he knew he could trust was now unconscious.

Luca stared at Anoxa her world having thoroughly shattered around her. She wanted to go to her, to tend to her wounds to help her, but as she held out her hand for her, she saw her own blood soaked hand and turned away. She couldn't go to her, not like this.

"We'll look after her. Go to Shepard," Seraphina told her.

Luca hurried then and lept up and over stones to where Shepard laid. He was already growing cold as she touched his face. She had lost him. Just like that she had lost him, Anoxa had lost a leg, and Luca felt as if she lost a part of herself in that moment.

Her eyes moved up to soldiers, friends, who were loading up a transport to take them back to base. "Put him on it," she ordered.

"Luca," one of them started to say, but her eyes burned at him.

"We will not leave him here! Drax...Drax will want to take him to his sister. He needs to be buried."

The men didn't argue. They picked up Shepard's body, the man's personal blaster falling to the ground as he was lifted up. Luca reached down and picked up the gun. She had no use for blasters, she was horrible with them. But it was Shepard's... She cradled it to her and then walked over to the transport where her friends had gathered and Anoxa was stretched out on. Luca took a seat, not saying anything, just holding the blaster as she thought about the events leading up to this. She should have never come back.

The ride back was quiet. There was no chastising over light or dark side. There was no bragging about kill count. There were just people who had gone through hell and knew that more was to come. Though they had stopped one part of the invasion, there was doubtless more forces on the planet. Their only choice was to escape into space and even then there was the Star Destroyer and countless Tie Fighters to deal with. What was the saying? When you're going through hell, keep on going.

Kobak held Anoxa's hand, and like so many times before it was his soft voice which broke the morbid silence. "Why wasn't my master here?"

Seraphina and Vic shared a glance, not certain how to break it to him. Neither was particularly good at breaking bad news and normally they'd let Anoxa or Luca tell someone this, as they were far more cheerful and better at easing situations with their pheromones, but given that one was unconscious and the other still looked as if she wanted the world to burn, they took it upon themselves to tell him.

"Well...Kobak," Vic started. "There's no easy way to say this."

"He's dead," Luca said, bluntly and harshly. She started to look at him but then looked away. She shouldn't have said it. Not like that. He was just a kid. Still innocent and she had probably just crushed him. Her eyes, filled with shame, looked to him and saw exactly what she was afraid of. His jaw had dropped and his entire expression was very similar to hers. She saw suffering. She saw pain. She saw confusion as to how something like that could happen. The only difference was that she didn't see the rage that she still felt. No feeling of injustice, just a need to know what had happened.

To his credit, Kobak realized that as much as that had been a punch straight to his heart... Well, given the circumstances that probably wasn't the best metaphor, he still realized there was bigger things ahead of them. Wolf Saizen was dead. His master was just gone and he still had no answers. He closed his eyes and fought back his emotions. "Oh...okay," he finally said in his softest voice.

When they got back to the main area, Luca headed to see Drax while the others tried to find out about getting Anoxa medical attention.

"The force we went after has been neutralized," she told her friend. "What is our situation like?"

"We'll be ready to leave in two hours. We've got a squadron of fighters that you guys can use along with some of our pilots. We're going to have to run a defense to allow the capital ships a chance to escape with civilians."

"Two hours? Alright."

Drax stopped what he was doing and looked around as if he suddenly realized something was missing. "Luca...where's Shepard."

Luca's eyes began to water but she remained strong. "He didn't make it, Drax," she whispered. She watched as his face fell as a friend he had known since birth was just suddenly gone. She swear his fur paled even as his ears laid flat on his head.

"Oh..."

"I had his body brought back. You'll take hit to Claire, right?"

"Of course." His hands gripped the command console and he took a deep breath. There was a time and place for grieving. Now was neither. "He owes me a drink."

"I think he owes all of us one," Luca laughed lightly. The two shared a moment as she hugged Drax and then stepped back. "I'll see you when it's time to launch."

"See you then."

Luca went to Shepard's room and stood there in the silence. Everything seemed the same. It seemed as if any minute Shepard was going to just walk through the door and make a joke about something. Her hand ran over his weapon's collection and then she pulled up a holo picture of her, Drax, and Shepard. Taking it, she slipped it in her pocket before going to his armor stand. He had worn his armor into the fight, but he had forgotten one thing. She grabbed his brown duster and slipped it over her. It engulfed her, as he was nearly a foot taller than her, but it was his and she was keeping it. She walked out then and headed to their ship, figuring that was where the others would be.

Seraphina met her at the door. "Drax told me what was going on. I'm going to prep the ship. I'm the worst at space combat so I'll fly and man the guns here. You, Kobak, and Vic can take the starfighters. Anoxa is in our medical bay. The surgeons here won't be able to operate on her with them trying to evacuate. We'll have to go back to the temple."

Luca nodded. That sounds just fine to her.

"Luca...I'm sorry about Shepard." Seraphina's eyes were full of concern and worry. She tried to imagine how she would feel if anything were to happen to Vic, and the thought alone was nearly crippling to her. She knew Zeltron's were different, they didn't believe in just one lover. They took as many as they wanted, but that didn't mean that they loved their lovers any less.

Luca met her friend's gaze and offered her the best smile that she could. "No rest for the wicked," she whispered and then went to check on the others.

Kobak was just where she imagined him to be, sitting beside Anoxa. Vic was in there as well, talking to him about how he knew what it felt like to lose a master. "It is not easy and I'm sorry for your loss," he told him.

"How did he die?" Kobak asked. He eyed both of them cautiously. From what Anoxa had told him about Luca she only had two states. Punching and smiling, and she wasn't smiling so that put him on edge.

"Fighting Infernis. It...a lot of bad stuff happened," Vic explained. Not wanting to go into details about he and Luca more or less murdered his master. There was just some things that the kid didn't need to know.

Luca sat down and went to push the hair out of her eyes but all she managed to do was smear the dried blood of her victim over her face, causing Kobak to nearly faint. "How are you doing, kid?" Luca asked him.

"I honestly have no idea. The last thing I remember before waking up in this mad house was dying. Did I die?"

 _"Yes."_

Kobak froze. "Who said that?"

"Who said what?" Vic asked.

 _"It is me."_

Kobak froze as he looked down at his armor. "Guys...what is this?"

"Yeah, about that. So, bit of a long story there but I will try to give you the cliffsnotes. You were kind of dying. Vic crispy fried a cyborg and Anoxa decapitated it. Turned out it had a symbiote attached to it that was a living organism. It could heal you, but would be permanently bonded to you in the process. Anoxa didn't want you to die, so she chose to save your life by bonding you with it."

"Permanently? So, I'm stuck like this?"

 _"Maybe not. If you go strong, say by murdering millions of people I might leave. Who knows? Let's try it and find out!"_

"And it talks to me..."

 _"Also, watch out for the blind one. That force lightning hurts like a bitch!"_

"Yeah, we only talked to it briefly it. It was dying, but Anoxa felt it was the best choice."

"And so, you're still Jedi right?"

"Yeah, of course," Vic told him. "We just...we do what it takes to succeed. We're the First Order after all. The masters say they aren't punishing us for releasing Infernis, but we tend to get the most difficult assignments. One might even say we're a suicide squad if you will."

"Wait, you guys released Infernis?"

 _"Good times. That guys is awesome."_

"Yeah, now that's a long story," Vic sighed.

That was too much. Kobak began to hyperventilate. His master was dead. He was stuck bonded to a symbiote who was talking inside his brain. And to top it off, regardless of what they said he was fairly certain he was working with Sith! He got up and walked outside, panicking and looking for a way out. He was still panicking and hyperventilating when just like that...it stopped. His breathing returned to normal. Everything was suddenly fine which just made him freak out more.

 _"You know what would make you feel better? Go murder a family!"_

Kobak whimpered and nearly screamed when he felt a hand on the armor. He looked back at Luca.

"Are you okay?"

"No," he told her. "No I'm not."

"Look...the past few days, hell the past lifetime has been crap. But at least for a little while longer we've got to keep our heads in the game. There are a lot of innocent lives on the line. We're going to have to fight in space and protect them while they jump. Are you going to be okay doing that?"

Protecting people? That...that sounded reasonable. That sounded like the Jedi. That sounded more like the people he knew before. He looked at Luca and then to Vic who stood at the door of the ship. Sure, one of them dressed in all black, had pale skin and used force lightning. And sure he now had two red lightsabers collected from the Sith Hunters added to his other three blades. Sure she was caked in blood and had ripped a guy's heart out... but maybe you know...maybe that was all a coincidence?

"Yeah. Saving people. That sounds good to me."

"When we get back to the temple, you know, the masters will have to appoint you to a new master. We could always train you. You could come be our apprentice."

 _"This one could teach you force lightning. That could be useful actually. I like this one. I get a good vibe from him."_

He really wished Anoxa was awake. The two hours went by quick as everyone boarded their respective ships.

Drax met Luca as they began to board. "Shepard was the only one who knew where the Jedi Temple was. When you guys go back, tell them what happened. That Isis is lost."

"Will do. Be careful out there."

"Always." They hugged and then parted. Luca got ready for pre-flight, always hating space battle. You couldn't punch ships which put her at a huge disadvantage. Anoxa was a far better pilot than her, but at least she had Kobak and Vic there, both of which were really good at this.

Kobak climbed into his seat and soon broke atmosphere with the others. They were flying three fighters to each capital ship and head of the was the Star Destroyer and enough Tie Fighters to spread across each of their formations. They had a whopping five minutes of peace before another war began.

Kobak and Vic worked together to guard the Secret Runner. They maneuvered around effortlessly in space, blasting through Tie Fighters as if it was nothing. Luca on the other hand was having trouble. She would barrel roll and shoot and fly straight and shoot and nothing. Everything was moving too quickly! There was no way for her to orient herself. She hated space combat!

She growled as she unleashed a barrage of fire onto a group of tie fighters only to miss every single one. "I am one miss away from just going out there and punching them!"

"It's okay! I've got your six," Kobak said as he shot two of them down as he passed her by and waved.

"On your left," Vic said as he passed her as well as took out the last one. The war was escalating fast. Ahead of them one of the squadrons was ripped to shreds by the fire power of the Star Destroyer that seemed to wipe them out in the blink of an eye. The capital ship that the fighters were protecting exploded, shot through by the massive array of artillery, leaving the starfighters without a way to enter hyperspace.

While the chaos ensued outside, Seraphina entered in the coordinates for a rallying point far enough away from the fight and from the Jedi Temple that they could regroup and then head home. It had only been a week and already she was homesick. The calculations took time, and it didn't make it any easier that she was having to dodge fire and do it all on her own. She watched as the last two surviving capital ships entered hyperdrive and disappeared from view, which meant that all the attention of the enemy was now focused solely on them.

"I've got the coordinates plugged in! Dock now!" She shouted over the communications array.

One by one the pilots docked and got out. "Okay, let's get out of here," Luca said to Seraphina.

"We can't leave yet! What about the other pilots," Kobak said and motioned to the last two ships who were battling it out with Tie Fighters. Their capital ship had been destroyed, they had no way out, they were as good as dead without their help.

Luca wavered. If they stayed they risked getting destroyed by the Star Destroyer. They could leave now...but they would be condemning them to death.

"No. No! Luca, come on!" Vic said as he saw the look in her eyes.

"Seraphina, hail the two starfighters. Delay launch. If they can get to us we'll take them with us."

"Seriously?" Seraphina said. She did just that though and with the coordinates locked in she focused on the weapons now as she shot at the Tie Fighters that came near them.

The twin ships raced toward the last remaining capital ship, their own ships burning from blaster fire. They landed as quick as they could and as soon as they had reached the ship they signaled they were good to go.

Their ship was suddenly rocked by blaster fire as the Star Destroyer turned its attention to them. From where they were they could see the massive bolts hurtling right toward them. "Tell Seraphina to prepare the launch." Vic said as he stood there and held his hands out. "You better be glad, I've got this, Luca."

"You've got a Star Destroyer?" Kobak said in shock.

"Stick with me kid and you'll learn a lot." Space began to ripple around the ship. Several of the bolts pelted into the side of the ship, taking out several key components, but the largest blast which would have obliterated them came crashing down upon them; only to disappear completely. Vic struggled to fold the space around the energy source, having to capture the entire bolt within his power as to not even let a trace of it through. His hands shook and his body trembled. He seemed to pass the energy from one outstretched hand to the other as he pointed his other hand to opposite side of the ship. Out in space the ripple appeared again as the bolt suddenly erupted out of the void.

Their ship entered into hyperspace and was gone in a flash.

"We survived." Kobak couldn't believe it. Vic had just bent space around a Star Destroyer's barrage!

"All...too...easy," Vic said and gave him a grin before he crumpled to the ground.

"Get him to the medbay so he can rest," Luca said with a smile as she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. They had saved the men and survived. That...that didn't happen often.

Kobak easily pulled Vic along the ground as Luca went to check on the men. After making certain that they were alright she explained they would be dropped off with their ships at the first trading station they came across. They couldn't take outsiders to the temple, and the men, just glad to be alive had absolutely no complaints about that.

Once they had dropped the men off, the weary and broken group headed back to the temple. Luca took the co-pilot seat to help out Seraphina and as they neared the temple Luca hailed the Hidden Temple and was surprised to be answered by Grand Master Skywalker.

"Secret Runner?"

"Yes Grand Master, it's us," Luca said. "We need medical team as soon as we docked. We've got one who lost a limb, another who had quick surgery to attach a cyborg limb, another that has been bonded to a symbiote, and another who is still unconscious after bending space around a Star Destroyer and is need of some meditation."

There was silence on the other end as Grand Master Skywalker tried to figure out just what had transpired within the span of a week to entail that sort of greeting from one of his Knights. "Okay..."

"And I need an audience with the council."

A month seemed to past so quickly. For a brief period, time seemed to slow. Anoxa received a new metal leg, a few of them, actually as she wanted hers to be both fashionable and practical. Each one, however, soon came to have Luca's name engraved into the bottom of the foot. During that time Luca began to slowly distance herself from the others, training longer and longer, barely taking time to eat or sleep. She drove herself to train more, to focus on anything other than the feelings which made her heart hurt. She knew what she was going to do, whether the masters wanted it or not, she knew what path she had chosen. The day that Shepard died, the day that Anoxa lost her leg, that was the day that truly the innocence of Luca died. She lost hope, and all that was replaced was anger. A burning rage which she could barely contain. She stood before Seraphina who had asked her to train her, and despite herself, she agreed, but she didn't hold anything back. When she trained, she fought with everything she had, leaving Seraphina black and blue and broken, but every fight she got a little bit better, a little bit stronger.

Seraphina was determined to become stronger. To no longer rely on the others. She spent just as much time as Luca in training. She would spar with Luca until she couldn't stand, then she'd force herself up to go train with Anoxa. The two of them sparred whenever they could, both using the time to grow acquainted to their limbs. Both determined to get stronger and be better than they were.

Kobak was off on his alone, going through special training as the Jedi learned more about the symbiote that was attached to him and what was in store for the young man.

Vic spent his time training in a different way. The darkness which plagued him weighed so heavily upon him, that he sought council of the masters. Vic stood before the council, head bowed and silent. He had asked to speak with them. He needed to talk with them, to explain everything and to ask for help. When Anoxa's light had pierced his heart, he knew then just how far he had fallen. He knew then, that this was his moment to either seek redemption or to give himself wholly to something darker. "I have fallen," he said slowly. "I have given into the darkness and I want to be better. I want to be stronger. I want to go be whole again."

There was silence, though it was brief. They knew, they had known from the moment he returned home. A solitary figure stood up from the council and walked toward him. His pale, elderly hand rested on his shoulder and Vic looked up into ancient eyes. "You seek strength in darkness because it is all you know, but there are two sides to everything. I will help you, to purge the darkness from you, and to show you that power also comes from the light."

The man was X2, an ancient human who seemed older than even Ezra, and he sought to teach Vic a way to use the power contained within him rather than draw upon the darkness, to allow him a chance for redemption.

Never before had Vic felt such calmness from a person. It just radiated from him in such a way that Vic couldn't feel any anger around him, even when he tried. The two of them meditated for nearly a week in silence before Vic lifted his head to look to the man. "How...how do you remain so calm?"

X2 opened his eyes. His face was emotionless it was so calm, not showing anger or joy, only peace. "I have lived a very long time, young one. I have seen wars fought and countless die and be born. In my time I have learned one thing. Focus on what matters to you most. Focus on anger and you will lose what matters to you the most."

Vic let those words sink in. They were so simple and yet they resounded with unspeakable truth. That night when he was free he sat on the floor of his room as he began to create something new. He meditated in silence as the remnants of his master's saber began to build around one of the lightsabers he had accumulated from Sith. The blade took a rather unique design of a crossguard saber with the glowing green blade of his master's infused within it. Holding the handle, he took one of the engraving devices and began to work on it. Rather than add some flourish to his blade, he instead wrote down the quote X2 had told him and beneath that quote he wrote four names. Luca. Anoxa. Seraphina. Shado Vao. He would not lose them.

He held out his hand and targeted the training droid that flew above him. With an almost serenity about him he watched as a single spark shot from his finger and slammed into the droid, causing it to crash into the ground. It was no spectacular display like when he was fueled by anger of fear, but it was a start.

Luca sat in her and Anoxa's room, her hand slowly moving over the gun, Shepard's gun. She had etched his name into the side of it. She wanted to keep it, but that was selfish. His gun deserved to be used, deserved to be put to a better use than a simple memento. She was no good with ranged weapons, in fact she was terrible, but as soon as Anoxa walked through the door she smiled. "Have a seat," she said and patted the spot beside her.

Both Anoxa and Seraphina were there, having just come back from training, but when Seraphina saw the look in Anoxa's eyes she slowly walked away. She could tell something was up, so she was going to give them space.

"What's up stranger?" Anoxa asked with a smile.

"This gun is Shepard's. It's special, I think. I can't figure it out. But...I want you to have it. "

Anoxa took the gun which was offered and stared at it and then to her best friend. "Thank you, Luca. Is everything okay?"

Luca nodded quickly but she looked away from Anoxa. "Yeah, I'm sorry I haven't been around that much. I'll try to make it up to you. I've just had to work out some stuff."

"You know I'm here for you right? I mean, we all are."

"I know," she assured her. "I know. It's just with Shepard gone, I realized something. Losing him was hard, Anoxa, he was one of the few things that made me more than a Jedi. When I lost him I lost myself, but even then I thought if losing him did this to me what would losing you do to me?"

"I don't want to think about that," Anoxa said her hand resting on Luca's thigh. "I can't think about that. We're together until the end, best friends forever, right?"

"Best friends...yeah." Luca fell silent and her heart hurt, but she couldn't put it into words. Zeltrons loved everyone, it was in their nature; but with Anoxa it was so much more. More so than even with Shepard. Anoxa was everything to her, but she didn't know how to express that. She just knew that something her master had told her once was becoming all too clear to her. If you loved for someone else, you lived a life prepared to die for them.

Anoxa rubbed her friend's leg for a few moments as the silence settled for them. Luca was her other half, she was in many ways her better half. She couldn't imagine a life without her and she refused to. Luca and her were going to be together until death took them both. The idea of losing her though sent a chill down her spine and before she realized it she had pulled Luca into a big hug, smothering Luca between her breasts. Somewhere in there Luca closed her eyes and smiled as she wrapped her arms around Anoxa, this...this was what she would fight for.

More days passed by as the group went about their business. The masters were keeping a close eye on them, seeing the strain that they had been put under, they wanted them close and more importantly wanted to give them time to truly rest. For so long the temple had just been a waypoint for them, but it was also their home.

Luca and Master Splyn'Ter were out in the asteroid belt, flying starfighters and taking on some of the grunt work when the alarms went off. Luca scanned the horizon as a solitary Star Destroyer appeared in the distance.

Alarms echoed in the temple and while the trio that remained in it didn't have any exact knowledge of what their roles were now, they moved to help the younglings into hiding positions. "Stay there and don't use the force," Anoxa said. She smiled and tried to ease their fears, but she and the others were wondering what was going on as well.

When they secured the children, Vic stayed behind to watch over them while Seraphina and Anoxa rushed up to the council chambers to see what was going on. "Master?" Anoxa asked as Toa Sen looked over the screen with the others.

Four more Star Destroyers had appeared and above all the alarms Master Cilghal, a Mon Calamari, looked at the screen and frowned. "We have an incoming transmission."

Just as she said that the screen flickered and there on every screen in the temple was the looming face of Infernis. "Hello there Jedi," he said, his voice deep and rough. "I know that you have my holocron and I am coming-"

Anoxa snickered a bit and Seraphina quickly elbowed her in the side. At the same time Splyn'Ter was urging Luca to be quiet as she laughed inside her star fighter. "-for it," Infernis finished. At this point the Star Destroyers began to open fire on the asteroid belt, firing into the asteroids to clear a path for the large vessels.

As soon as he heard Infernis's voice, Vic hurried to the girls. "He's here..."

"He's after the holocron. The Gate Keeper never appeared, maybe we can force it to come out," Anoxa said. Seraphina nodded.

"I had the same idea. Let's go."

"I'll stay here in case the situation changes."

They nodded to him and raced down to where the holocron was. Anoxa grabbed it off of its pedestal and closed her eyes, allowing her consciousness to force itself on the holocron. "Open up! Talk to us!" She demanded and shook the thing.

Seraphina stepped back as the holocron shimmered at the Gate Keeper appeared. The hologram was cloaked, but beneath its cloak she could see its face clearly. Reaching over, she shook Anoxa who broke from her trance just in time to look into the face of Infernis. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised," she huffed and gave him a hard glare. "Your master is here for you."

"I know," he smiled. "I am a A.I. created by him, I could sense him the moment he drew near."

"Why does he want you so badly?"

"His goal is to bring about the glory days of the Sith empire that he once knew. This catalogue of weapons will help him achieve his vision."

Anoxa swallowed hard. That was kind of what she was afraid of. "He asked for you in return for our lives. What will happen if he gets you?"

"There is only one way for this is the complete eradication of the Jedi. I hope that he kill you all." His grin would have sent shivers in her had it been real, instead she was just pissed. This thing annoyed her. It was so smug... She turned it off and looked to her friend. "Seraphina, think you can get a message out?"

Seraphina looked at the computer near them. It wasn't exactly set up for that, but she knew this system backward and forward. "Give me just a second." She sent out a broadcast for all sequences so that anyone within range would see it.

Anoxa stood before the screen and held her lightsaber up to the holocron. "If you continue to attack us, I will destroy the holocron. If you allow us to escape, you have a chance of one day retrieving it intact."

Seraphina held her breath to see what would happen. She got her answer just a second later. "Destroy it and you all die," Infernis said as his image appeared.

"Then leave."

Infernis smiled at her. "That is not an option."


	6. Chapter 6

The asteroid they were in suddenly began to rock and shake. The masters had gotten everyone to the appropriate ships as the Republic Cruisers began to break apart from each other. The passageways which connected the ships, which connected their home, exploded as they were ejected from the sides. The engines roared to life and the ancient ships lurched forward.

"Shields and power are coming online." A computer system told the Jedi masters. "Initiating Phase 2."

In the front of the asteroid several large explosions blew it apart, creating an exit for the Jedi ships to pass through. Even so, the only way out through the asteroid field was through the gap which the Sith Star Destroyers had created. Grand Master Skywalker's face was pale and stern as he stared ahead at the monitors. He entered a command code and bowed his head. "Phase 3 initiate." The computer voice said.

Vic stepped up to the front as the ships moved and stared through the camera. He couldn't tell the source, but from where he was he saw five beams of light above the ship converge into a single point and then hurtled forward through space and slam into one of the Star Destroyer's, eradicating it in an instant.

"Vic, go to Anoxa. Tell her not to destroy the holocron. Take your ship and get out of here. No matter what that holocron must be protected. If we are to survive this, we will need those weapons to rebuild the order."

"But Grand Master-"

"Go!"

Vic didn't have to be told once more. He hurried to the holocron room while the Republic ships exited the asteroid. Once the ships entered into open space, they began along the path toward the Star Destroyers, barely able to scrape past the asteroid field. From the Republic ships, countless remote controlled fighter ships exited it and began to converge on the Star Destroyers.

Anoxa continued her stare down of Infernis. "Last chance Infernis."

"We will see." The image disconnected and Anoxa was left staring at her own reflection.

"Fine then."

"Anoxa wait!" Vic shouted as he entered the doorway.

"What?"

"Grand Master Skywalker wants us to leave, now."

"But the holocron! Infernis!" She snapped.

"Now. He said we need the holocron intact."

Anoxa fisted the device. It didn't make sense...but fine. If the master's thought they needed it so be it.

"Intruders are within the ship."

The words of the alert system made the three Jedi Knights pause and stare at each other. Before anyone asked Seraphina had already begun to change the monitor. It brought up several images throughout the ship as Sith were literally appearing out of thin air.

Vic knew that technique all too well, the ability to fold space and move objects was powerful and he had just begun to tap into it; but to be able to move this many people over the distance of space was unheard of. "We need to go now!"

"One more second," Anoxa said. "Get a message to Luca."

Luca and Splyn'ter's ships flew through space, dodging blaster fire as they tried to move toward the first Republic ship where her friends were.

"Luca!" Anoxa said. "Sith have boarded the ship. We are going to the Secret Runner. Meet us there. We have to go."

"Be there before you know it," Luca smirked as her ship flipped upside down to avoid an asteroid.

Satisfied with that Anoxa nodded and the trio took off. No sooner did they step out of the holocron room then they were greeted with the sounds of fighting. Behind them down a hallway two Sith and two knights were fighting. Vic threw his arm out, knocking one of the Sith to the ground. The knight's didn't hesitate to use the opportunity to take down the crippled Sith and then advance on the other. Vic wanted to assist, but they had a mission. That was the best that he could do.

Moving forward down the hallway, they got just a few steps toward the hangar before an overwhelming sense of fear slammed into them. None of them needed to speak, they knew who it was. They knew what was coming toward them. The cloaked figure seemed to float on the ground as it neared them. It stopped just feet away before with a single gesture it sent its robes flying, revealing the muscled, red skinned form of Infernis. His red skin seemed to shimmer, his bare torso was full of hardened muscles that bore plenty of scars of his long life.

"Hello children. I believe you have something of mine."

Anoxa hit her communicator that was still synced with Luca. "Infernis," she said loud enough for Luca to hear. "We won't let you get this!"

Luca heard Infernis's dark laughter echo through her star fighter. "As if you have a choice," he growled. "Give it to me and your order may yet live."

"We would rather die than give it to you," Vic said. He expected to feel anger toward him, and he did, but not in the way he expected. The anger he felt inside of him was there, but it was tempered now by meditation and focus. This was something different, something entirely new and create by him. Vic took off his own cloak with a flourish and let it fall to the ground. At his waist were five lightsabers. He took the crossguard one and held it in his hand while the other four took to the air.

"So be it." Infernis ignited his twin sabers which immediately shot out along with a blast of pure plasma which began to burn through the walls and grounds as the unstable crystals which made his sabers leaked the deadly, burning plasma whenever he swung them.

Anoxa slipped the holocron into her robe and activated her sabers with Seraphina right beside her. They advanced as one, and as one they were horribly wounded. Before they could even raise a defense Infernis was upon them, slashing at them with his sabers in a pure hurricane of movement. The flame like blades sliced through their flesh and dripped plasma onto their bodies, scorching them further.

Luca winced at their screams. Her eyes narrowed and she pushed her starfighter as fast as it could go.

"Luca!" Splyn'ter shouted as she bounced off of an asteroid and aimed for the hangar bay.

Luca barely slowed while her star fighter entered into the Jedi ship. She turned it off, letting it crash down into the hangar while she jumped out and activated her lightsaber. Sith were flooding the room and she could barely sense her friends through all the chaos.

Splyn'ter joined her a second later, flipping from his ship onto hers as he held his cane and stared at her. "Master, they are fighting Infernis," she said as she glanced to him. Their eyes locked for the briefest of moments. He could see something in his student, something he never thought he would see in her. He saw desperation. He saw rage. He saw a blood lust which loomed beneath her flesh.

"Go to them."

"But what about you?"

Splyn'ter stroked his furry muzzle and looked to the young Sith who advanced on him. He placed his hand on the top of his cane and in one fluid motion lunged at them and drew from its handle a lightsaber hilt. A gleaming white blade sliced through the Sith leaving nothing but ribbons as he stood there. "I said go, Luca. Do what you have to. No matter what, I will always be proud of you. Just please...come back."

Luca watched him a second longer before she hurried toward them. Sith were everywhere, flooding the halls with their presence. Luca wanted to fight, to stop them, but she didn't have time. Two blocked her path, so she hit the ground and slid toward them, taking their ankles out from beneath them and dropping them to the ground. Another one came at her and from the ground she pushed herself up and flipped in the air, slamming the heel of her foot against the back of the Sith's head and then bouncing off of it to advance.

The knight's stood their ground, pain radiating through their bodies. They didn't need to talk. They didn't need to plan. They just needed to fight. Anoxa went first while Vic provided cover. Vic clashed with Infernis, striking at him with his crossguard saber while his other four flew in and swooped down. Infernis bashed them aside and used his fist to punch Vic in the chest, smashing him into a wall. Out of his peripheral vision he saw the pink one charge at him without her lightsabers. What was she thinking? He swung at her with his hand, but she ducked and then flipped over him and landed on his shoulders as her thighs wrapped around his head. She spun around in the air, using her momentum to sling him to the ground as she pinned him there. She held onto his right arm while her legs locked around his torso, forcing his other hand down as well so he couldn't swing at her. Infernis laid there, for a moment he tried to figure out what had just happened. It was quick, and he hadn't been prepared to confront a Jedi physically. Who used physical attacks when they had lightsabers!? He struggled to get out, to try to swing his blades in such a manner that could slice her limbs off, but despite his best efforts the young woman held him fast.

"Gotcha," Anoxa grunted. As soon as she made contact she began to draw upon his energy. She couldn't fight him while restraining him, but she could use her abilities to drain him, to make him weaker every second he was close to her.

Seraphina and Vic advanced. Even with him being held, he was moving, sliding along the ground and using the force to push himself away from them. They had to be careful or else they would stab through Anoxa just to get to him. Their blades slashed and hacked, though, slicing through the exposed parts of Infernis's flesh. Anoxa held his body as immobile as she could. Even though he moved to avoid fatal blows, she was going to keep him from attacking!

Infernis roared beneath her. Rage flowed through him and his skin began to burn. Anoxa's flesh blistered against his, and she recognized the power she was using as one Luca had all but mastered. The pain was unbearable, but she refused to let go! She would hold onto him as long as she could. She would fight through the pain, compared to what her master put her through this was nothing!

Infernis hissed as one of Seraphina's sabers stabbed into his side. These children were insufferable! He had treated them as children and he realized his own foolish pride was what got him in this predicament. The pink one holding him was infuriating! Even as her flesh boiled and burnt, she resisted him. Though he felt her grip loosen a bit in response and that was all he needed. He pulled his arms free in one violent maneuver, the bottom portions of his blades sliced into Anoxa's flesh before he flipped up into a standing position and grabbed her leg to burn it off of her. As his fire fueled grip wrapped around her, he felt a shield of pure force energy protect her leg from his flames. He hated pink people. He glared at her and moved to finish off the insolent brat when he remembered the other two.

He twisted around just in time to block the flying blades of Vic, but while he blocked those, Vic slid beneath his defense and sliced upward, slicing along Infernis's face leaving a gouging mark and slicing off one of the tendrils jutting from the Sith's jaw.

Seraphina moved on his opposite side, her blades hacking into his shoulder and back while she danced around him. Infernis shoved Vic back with the force while he engaged Seraphina one on one. Seraphina watched his movements and analyzed his attack. She had been training with Luca and Anoxa, she had grown stronger and she was determined to put that knowledge to the test. Using her own blades, Seraphina and Infernis began to clash, their blades slamming against each other with near blinding speed. Blow for blow they blocked and received while Seraphina skirted around her friends who were struggling to stand. She was trying to lead Infernis away, to draw his attention to her so that her friends could escape or gather more help. She danced with Infernis, matching his speed with her own. At the beginning, neither seemed to have an advantage as both fought in unison. As Seraphina landed another blow on his shoulder, she managed to graze his neck as well before blocking an attack to her back. She saw his movement slow and pressed her advantage. Throwing all she had at him, she landed blow after blow against the Sith who began to back up and go onto the defensive. Seraphina pressed her blade slamming down onto his, and then he deactivated his blade and threw her off balance. That one mistake was all it took to allow him an opening. His blades came down upon her so quickly that before she hit the ground she was paralyzed, unable to move as the searing heat of the plasma coursed through her body. She hit the ground with a thud, a large X seared across her flesh.

Vic watched as she fell and watched as Infernis turned toward them. Anoxa was up again and had her blades drawn. She glanced at Vic as the air around him began to heat up with static charge. For a split second she was about to jump away from him when she realized the air was different. This attack was different. Vic stared down at the handle of his blade and silently mouthed the words inscribed on it. Like so many times before, the lightning sparked from his hand and slammed into Infernis, but unlike before, the emotion that powered it was not rage but a calmness. Infernis was sent back with the lightning which forced him to the ground. Beside Vic, he felt Anoxa's Jedi light begin to radiate from her. Anoxa glanced at him cautiously, but he just gave her a smile. Now he felt nothing from it. "Go for it."

Anoxa ran to Infernis and used the force to aid her as she dodged Vic's lightning, she assaulted Infernis, slashing and hacking at him while he held his hand out against Vic's lightning and to try to shield himself from the burning light of her force presence. From her position, Anoxa was the first to realize something was wrong. The lightning was no longer hurting him, rather it appeared as if he was absorbing it.

Anoxa stared as his wounds began to glow and she could practically feel Vic's force energy being absorbed from him to speed up Infernis's healing. "Vic! Stop!" Anoxa shouted, but it was too late. Infernis had already absorbed enough. The rebound as Infernis let loose with his force blast sent Anoxa and Vic flying backward into a wall near Seraphina's weakened frame.

Vic stared at Seraphina and then to Anoxa. All the ground they had gained, all the damage they had caused was starting to heal and repair itself right before their eyes. They were going to die. He knew it and he knew that if he was going to die it was at least going to be dying for something good. "Run," he told Anoxa.

"Vic-"

"Run!" Anoxa held the holocron as she watched Vic prepare himself for Infernis. Taking a deep breath she ran toward the hangar. Where was Luca!?

Luca slid to a stop just in time to duck an oncoming blade. She slashed through the mid section and watched him crumble before her. Already she had received minor wounds from lightsabers which grazed her, but despite a few painful moments she was on her way. She took another step when another Sith with a great saber slammed their massive blade down upon her. Luca barely had time to react as she moved her tonfa up to block. As she did, a secondary blade stretching out from the handle of the saber activated and stabbed through Luca's tonfa, deactivating her blade.

"Aw, look at that I broke the little Jedi's toy-" The Sith began to taunt as Luca thrust her right hand toward her face. Her secondary lightsaber activated from her combat glove and went straight into the face of the taunting Sith. Luca let her body collapse, not even feeling anything for the warrior. She was dead and if she was being honest with herself, Luca was glad. Her blood was rushing and her heart was racing. Everything seemed so slow to her in this instance. She knew what she was doing, she was allowing her rage to flow through her, but she was in control. She had to be. She had to get to them. She glanced down at her broken tonfa and sighed sadly. No way she could fix it now. Letting it fall to the ground she ran forward and turned the corner, just in time to see several Sith coming toward her.

Luca cursed and looked around for another way out. She couldn't backtrack! "Fuck this!" She shouted as she slammed her fist into the nearby wall. It shattered under her force punch and she jumped through the opened hole. Why didn't she think of this sooner? She punched another hole as she went through the hallways instead of going through...the...hallways... Well, she had made a shortcut

Anoxa ran toward the hangar, pushing herself to run fast when she was suddenly pulled by two opposing instances of force powers. One was Vic's who tried to push her farther away while the other was Infernis, who tried to pull her toward him. For a split second she was caught within the conflicting powers as she struggled to get free, and then she roughly flipped through the air where she collapsed on her back in a pain filled heap.

Vic stared at her and cursed, he thought that he could assist... He turned to Infernis and activated his crossguard. Infernis advanced and the two began to clash. Infernis dodged Vic's flying sabers, batting them aside even as he walked forward and Vic walked backward toward Anoxa. Vic's saber flew in coordinated movements, slashing and stabbing at one. Were it anyone other than Infernis they would be overwhelmed by the display, but Infernis had fought Shado Vao who was a master of the style and to him, Vic was nothing more than a copy. Infernis sidestepped another barrage of blades and then thrust forward. Vic countered and sliced his upper thigh, his blades moving to stab Infernis from behind. As they moved in, Infernis waved his hand and scattered Vic's blades to the corner of the room. Vic held up his blade as Infernis swung and swung and swung again. Each attack felt heavier than the last as Vic was toppled to one knee to try to avoid being destroyed by the might. Once more Vic raised his blade to stop Infernis's attack, but they didn't come. Rather than swing down at him as Vic predicted, Infernis instead lunged, letting his blades stab into Vic's chest. With a surge of row power, the plasma seemed to ignite within the man's body, causing his torso to burn as he screamed in agony. Infernis kicked his chest, causing him to crumble to the ground in shock as his chest seemed to burn from the inside out.

"And then there was one," Infernis whispered with malice. Anoxa was already up and she sat down the holocron between her and Infernis, her new gun aimed directly at it. "Give it to me."

"Go to hell and get it," Anoxa said and pulled the trigger.

The bolt went straight toward the holocron and as it went for it, Infernis swung his saber to deflect it. Just like before, the unique plasma design of the gun erupted the air when it made contact with the saber. The air around them exploded, sending both Jedi and Sith sliding backward. Shrapnel embedded itself in both their bodies as plasma singed their flesh. Infernis's breath caught in his throat as he saw the burnt remnants of his holocron. There was silence for a brief moment before a loud banging sound began to draw closer toward them.

Anoxa smiled through her pain as she activated her lightsabers. No matter what, she had foiled his plans. She would die, but she would die happy knowing that she gave him one final middle finger before death.

Infernis moved toward her and as Anoxa fought him, his attacked seemed to move faster, his anger fueling him to a new level. He wanted this pink one to suffer. Her lightwhip and tanto clashed against his, but he had quit being amused by the fight. He smacked her weapons aside and backhanded her before he slashed his blades across her chest. The pain was debilitating and even as she fell she was somehow aware that the banging she had been hearing had culminated into a loud eruption from behind her.

Luca was covered in sweat and blood, some of it hers and some of it those who had gotten in her way . Her breathing was heavy and blood dripped from her fists as she held onto a broken Sith figure. Her eyes took in the sight before her and she watched as Infernis dropped Anoxa to the ground. Luca stepped forward and threw the Sith toward Infernis. "I think you dropped something," she told him.

He caught the Sith with the force and stared at the figure.

"M-master..."

Infernis stared at it for a moment while he watched the pink one charge at him. There were two annoying ones? Why didn't this one have a lightsaber? Was this a Jedi or a pet? Why did he feel as if one of his scouts had told him something about a pink Jedi. What was it? Oh! Right! She punched! Wait, she punched? He tossed the Sith aside just as Luca appeared before him. He raised his blades to slice at her, but her fist was faster than him. She slammed her fist into his face, as her force flames burned into his skin. The impact of her blow cracked his jaw and caused him to stumble. What was it with pink Jedi and not using blades! Who used their bodies to fight when they had weapons of death!? He swung his sabers at her and sliced through her body, only her body seemed to vanish. Where the fuck did she go? He turned to his left just to have her fist collide with his face once more in the SAME FUCKING SPOT! He stumbled and stared at her. His eyes moved over her tiny frame as she stood there. Bright red flames radiated from her fists and he could feel darkness radiating from her. This girl was on the verge of something wonderful...

Luca stared at her friends for that brief second that she had. She saw all of them crawling and trying to hold on. The rage she thought she had been controlling was surfacing now, controlling her every movement. Infernis swung again, but Luca pushed her body to use a technique her master had taught her known at the Mizu Ka, which allowed her to move faster than even Infernis could predict, but it put a huge strain on her body to do it and even just the few times she had used it was already weakened her and put her at her limit.

Her heart raced though as she met his eyes. Never before had she felt this way in a fight. She felt powerful. She felt free. She felt alive. There was no fear now, just rage. She pushed her blood covered hand through her hair, coating blood on her face as she laughed maniacally at him, as if something in her had just snapped. "What's wrong Infernis? Having trouble hitting a little girl?"

"What's wrong little girl, having trouble protecting your friends?"

Luca's laughter froze as she disappeared and came up behind him to attack. He twisted around and slashed at her, but just like before his blades sliced through the air before her. As Luca appeared behind him once more though, his blades ignited in pure flames and raw power which blinded the unsuspecting Zeltron. Infernis quickly turned and thrust his blades before him, slashing through her sides and up her arms as he carved a mark across her flesh.

Luca jumped back, body fuming with pain and still she laughed. She drew on the dark side with every breath, using it to block out the pain her body was filling. She couldn't let up. She couldn't let him live! If her soul was damned so be it, she would push everything she had to kill him. Her body screamed at her to stop and yet she pressed for one final attack. Drawing all the power she had she lunged at him. He slashed through the air in a myriad of arcs, each on passing through an after image of where Luca was. Each step pushing her body past its limit, each step pulling from the dark side. Finally she appeared before him, dark energy radiating off of her as she thrust her hidden lightsaber into his chest, right where a Sith's heart ought to be... only he just laughed at her.

Luca was frozen, never before had she felt that. He stepped forward and turned to her, his brilliant orbs seemed to mirror her own as he let his sabers slash through her again. She was spent. Everything she fought for, everything she tried was for nothing. Her body began to fail her as she collapsed, but before she could he caught her in his right hand. His hand held firmly to her jaw, the heat sizzling her flesh and burning a permanent mark of his hand onto her face. "You... you have potential," he mused as he gazed at her.

In those eyes, Luca saw the death of her, the death of her friends, the death of everyone and everything. In those eyes she saw power, power she couldn't even begin to fathom. She saw a power which resonated within her and threatened to free a part of her she never knew existed. It fed on the darkness which threatened to consume her and in those eyes she knew above all else what she had to do. Before he even asked her, her mind had made its decision.

"If you wish to grow more powerful, come with me." He dropped her to her knees and then turned to walk away. He kicked the remnants of the holocron and stared at Anoxa with disgust before he walked toward the hangar. He issued a command for his troops to fall back. There was no longer a reason to be here.

Luca sat there for a moment, face and body burning while she stared at her friends who were struggling to move. Very slowly she forced her own body to move. "Anoxa...I'm sorry," she whispered. She met Anoxa's eyes as her friend stared at her in confusion.

"I can't do this anymore, Anoxa. I just can't. I'm so tired of this. Tired of the Jedi. Tired of all they cost us! For what? So we can die to him? No. I won't. Not like that." Luca stood up and held her hand against the wall as she began to walk. "The Jedi are weak, Anoxa. You...you and the others are weak. I see that now more clearly than ever before. In that moment, I felt such power, something within myself which I never felt before. I am going to find that power. I can't do that here. Not with you. You are too weak. You are too pathetic... I realize now, this feeling of contempt I have is hatred. I hate all of you."

Anoxa felt her heart break at those words, as if something had just stabbed into her heart and ripped it out. Those words were worse than any physical pain she had ever endured. Worse than any beating, any lightsaber wound, and worse than anything she could imagine. She met Luca's cold glare for just a second as Luca quickly looked away from her. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real. Luca couldn't do this. Luca wouldn't say these words to her. Luca wouldn't leave her all alone!

"Goodbye, Anoxa." Luca limped off after Infernis, her hand holding her open wounds; and Anoxa struggled to stand. Her voice barely worked and even so she pushed through everything to call out to her. As she watched Luca slide along the wall all she saw was her friend, the little girl who use to laugh and hug Anoxa whenever she got the chance. That image seemed to blur as tears filled Anoxa's eyes while she forced herself to call out.

"L-Luca! Luca wait!" She shouted, but her friend was already gone. "Please...don't...leave me."

Countless days passed as the Jedi tried to regroup from their battle with Infernis. The three young knights were in intensive care, healing from their wounds, physical, emotional, and mental. For days they had been quiet, each processing Luca's betrayal in their own way. It was so sudden, so unlike her, and yet the hatred in her eyes, the fear and anger that they sensed off of her, it was so real. Even now they could remember the look in her eyes and sense the darkness which seeped from her.

"We have to save her." Vic was the first to speak, the first to break the silence. He fisted the sheets while he sightless eyes stared up at the ceiling. Unlike the others he hadn't seen the hatred in Luca's gaze, instead he saw as her brilliant blue light began to turn into a darkened black flame. "I know what it is like to be tempted by the darkness. I know that she has to be saved."

"No." Anoxa's voice was soft. She didn't want to speak. She didn't want to feel anything at this moment. "Luca is dead. You cannot save someone who is dead."

"What?" Vic turned his head to her and Seraphina did the same.

Hearing her name. Saying it out loud. It hurt her. It made her angrier than she thought possible. She wasn't angry at Luca though, she could never be mad at her. Yet there was all this anger, and it was all she could think about. "Luca died when she left. Luca, my Luca, wouldn't have done that. She wouldn't have left us. She wouldn't have said those things. She's dead…and whatever Sith has taken her place will suffer for it."

"Then you intend to go after her as well?" Seraphina asked her.

"I will find her," Anoxa assured her.

Seraphina nodded slowly. "I do not like being betrayed. I think we are all in agreement then. Though our reasons for finding her may differ, we need to find her."

"That will be hard," Kobak told them as he entered the room, bringing them a tray of food and drinks.

"Why is that?" Vic asked.

"The Masters have given strict orders that you are not to leave here. Especially not to go after her."

"What? Why?" Anoxa snapped at him with a growl. Kobak stepped back, startled as he had never before heard such anger in her voice. Anoxa instantly regretted snapping at him and patted the spot by her bed for him to sit.

"You're too close to her, that's what Master Skywalker said. You could be drawn into the darkness with her," Kobak explained and took a seat.

"Then we will find our own way after her," Vic said.

"But there is something we haven't taken into account," Seraphina said, now contemplating their options.

"What is that?" Vic looked back to her with question.

"Even as kids Luca was always on a different level than us. She fought Infernis by herself in the same length of time that all three of us stood against him. I don't think if it came to it that right now the three of us could fight her and win."

"Four," Kobak corrected, much to Anoxa's surprise.

"Kobak?"

"After everything that happened, I asked Master Skywalker if you could take over as my master. As long as you consent, where you go, I go," he explained with a smile.

Anoxa's smile was small, but it was the first smile she had managed to form in days. "You will not like my training."

"I know."

Once more there was silence between the group as the only sound made was that of the medical devices and droids which scurried about them. "If the masters won't let us leave, then we will train," Anoxa told them. "We will become stronger. Then we will go after her."

"I just…I don't know if I _can_ control this thing. I think-I think it's getting worse." Kobak rubbed the back of his neck and tried for the thousandth time to get his fingers under the collar of his living suit, in a vain attempt to remove its sickening temptations.

 _Of course I am, your sniveling disgusts me. this joining should have resulted in blood and feasting, but your pitiful stomach turns at the thought of fresh spilt blood. my previous host was far more interesting._

"…definitely getting worse."

Anoxa turned to level a hard stare at her new apprentice, and he felt disoriented for a moment as a newly familiar pain connected with the back of his skull and rocked him forward.

 _I really wish she wouldn't do that._

"I really wish you wouldn't do that," Kobak said moving his hand from his collar to rub through his mohawk with a wince.

She did it again, and glared harder. "Do you know _why_ I do it?"

Kobak noted her expression and hoped like hell this wasn't a trick question, before reviewing all his knowledge of the psychology datapads he'd studied. "…to instill a Pavlovian response? Anger and fear are met with pain, so avoid those emotions."

For a moment her expression softened with a faint smile and a faraway look. The familiar nostalgia was probably directed toward her own severe Master. It vanished a moment later, and she focused on her new padawan, "A partially right answer is still completely wrong. I made the same mistake, in thinking that the path of the light side was in completely rejecting darkness in all forms and never allowing it to touch you, but that is ignorance of the highest degree."

She glanced down at the collar of the suit that appeared just above the folds of his robe and continued talking, "The dark side is _always_ there, in every one of us at all times. We can never escape it, no matter how hard we try. That truth is now inescapable for you, and in the end…I think you may be the luckiest of us all."

He stared at her, trying not to let his outrage get the better of him. Being told he was lucky for having an evil organism attached to him, by the person who was responsible, was almost the limit for his polite deference. "… _what_?"

… _no really,_ ** _what_** _? this pink one must be more sadistic than I give her credit for._

She looked into his angry eyes, and he saw that the regret that he used to see reflected there was gone. There was no longer an apology for saving his life there. She didn't break eye contact, but waved down at herself, "Do you know how I got these scars?"

His anger faltered at the unexpected segue. "You-they're from battles you fought."

She glared, her mouth forming a tight frown of disapproval. "Battles I _won_."

He frowned back, not cowed by her obvious lie. "You didn't win all of them."

SMACK!

 _I swear on your precious Order if she does that one more time-_

She grabbed him by the front of his robe and pulled him closer to make sure she had Kobak's attention. "Every last one of these marks is a _badge of honor_ that proves that no matter how much pain was inflicted upon me…I never gave in." She released his robes, but maintained eye contact. "Don't you get it? Anger and fear aren't just met with pain. _They are pain_. The only way you can be _damned sure_ to know that you are strong enough to overcome pain is to become acclimatized to it." She paused, letting it sink in. "Now…what does that tell you?"

Kobak waited a moment, and shoved the parasite's irritating commentary to the back of his mind while he processed what she said, before taking a deep breath, centering himself and answering.

"It tells me that…in every battle you fight through pain, anger and fear. You are immersed in the dark side, you accept it, but you don't give into it. You fight through it and come out the other side without ever giving into its call."

Her hand came up again, and he immediately flinched back on instinct, but it just ruffled through the tuft of soft orange hair on his head. He looked up at his young Master's lopsided smile, and saw the girl who'd gotten her nose broken defending him all those years ago. She grinned, winked and said, "Got it in one."

"What does that have to do with me being lucky, again?" he asked in a rush before he could lose his nerve. Head slaps be damned, he was going to get a straight forward answer to that one!

She surprised him by grinning even more, and then glaring with vicious glee at the parasite covering the majority of his body. "Because unlike the rest of us, who rely on ridiculously vague and unhelpful metaphors to define our experiences of the call of the dark side, you have the living embodiment of it painted across your skin, and whispering terrible things inside your head."

"…uh, yay me?"

 _This one has clearly survived one too many blows to the head._

"You will never mistake it for a friend, ally, or shortcut to victory. Everything it says to you is either a lie or a trap."

… _or perhaps even idiots have moments of clarity._

"Shut up."

"What?"

"Oh no, the suit, not you."

She snorted in wry amusement, then made a gesture that equated to, 'see what I mean?' There was a moment of silence before she continued, and he felt his own lightning mood snuff out completely at the turn of the conversation.

"Luca and I had completely different training, and in the end, I think it's what killed her."

A part of him—the symbiote, sadistic part—almost contradicted her, and argued that Luca wasn't dead, but he bit his tongue before the words could escape.

"From the beginning of my training with Toa Sen, I was thrown into every danger imaginable. Those years were my trial as both a Sentinel and a Jedi. He knew that his methods could get me killed, but he also knew there was no other way to prepare me for the future I faced without being battle-tested." Her face grew disgusted and she shook her head, a bit of resentment appearing before she quickly rejected it, "Splyn'Ter took a different approach with Luca. He trained her completely in theory and in practice before ever taking her out into the field, so when the time came, she was already skilled enough to avoid both injury and tough choices. When we reunited…I was envious and _relieved_ at how few scars she had. I thought it meant she was too good to be beaten. I wanted it to be true, so I believed it. But all it meant was that he had coddled her so much, she was incapable of rising above her very first battle testing."

"You've all lost battles before. She'd been tested."

"We'd been knocked out, we'd been disabled, we'd retreated, but we'd never _lost_ so completely before. Vic, Sera, and I had each accepted our fate, and did what was necessary. The holocron was destroyed and our objective of keeping it out of Infernis' hands was complete, but in the end that wasn't enough for Luca."

Anoxa looked at Kobak and put a hand on his shoulder. "You and I have faced our own deaths head on and accepted them. You fought against a stronger enemy, gave up the holocron to our safe keeping and did not give into rage or fear. Remember this Kobak, you lived a good life, surviving on your own two feet, and were unafraid in what could have been your final moments…the symbiote that you host was _terrified_ in its final moments before I saved its life."

 _Oh come on! that's just—you can't bring up evidence from an unrelated case in this trial! I object! The current host will disregard the witness's testimony!_

"It tells you that you're pitiful, that you're not worthy."

 _How does she know that? are you having conversati—ohmygod, you're having conversations with people behind my back—HOWDOESTHATEVEN—_

"That _thing_ is a parasite."

 _I…you…yeah okay, I have no defense against that._

"Remember Kobak, no matter what it says to you, what it does, it is a guest in the temple of your body. You survived for years without it, but it _cannot_ survive without _you_. If it gives you any lip, you don't want to take, just show it who's boss."

 _Oh please, I'd like to see you try._

"…uh, how exactly?"

SMACK!

 _SONOFA-_

"SONOFA—" He grasped the back of his aching skull with both hands before opening his eyes against the grimace, to see her giving him her blandest stare.

Oh.

… _oooooooh no, no! I veto that idea completely! you wouldn't—_

Before either part of himself could talk him out of it, he whipped out his lightfoil…and 'pulled a stupid'.

Anoxa blinked in mild shock as her apprentice activated his weapon and pressed the vibrant orange blade against the forearm of his body suit…then proceeded to double over in what appeared to be excruciating pain.

In response to the blistering heat of his weapon, the creature recoiled from the heat, but in the process clamped down on its host's arm in a bone cracking grip, which just led to sensing its

own pain _and_ its host's in tandem. A feedback loop of agony.

 _STOP! STOP! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS UNHOLY STOP!_

He deactivated his saber and crumpled to the ground. His master knelt in front of him and tilted her head quizzically, "Well that escalated quickly. I honestly just meant you should, like, bite your tongue or something, but that works too, I guess."

 _I will gut her. I will gut her slowly, and strangle her with her entrails._

Kobak wheezed through the pain and reactivated his lightfoil threateningly.

 _Oh come on, I was kidding. Haha? I swear no one in this fucking ship has a sense of humor._

He deactivated the saber and ignored its grumbling as he was helped to his feet. "Okay, so…it doesn't like pain. Kind of a hypocritical little thing, isn't it?"

 _I've had hosts over the course of several life times, boy. Don't get me started on hypocrisy._

"It's weak. Pathetic. It uses what it _thinks_ is power to subdue and victimize those who it thinks are powerless. That is the nature of the dark side. Always control it. Always fight through it. Never give in. _That_ is true strength."

She squeezed his shoulder, but her eyes were narrowed and focused on something behind him as she spoke.

"Luca wasn't strong enough to fight against it, and a new Sith is the result of her first and final failure…but I will not allow the Sith to defile her memory. We will meet in battle and regardless of whether I live or die, I will be the victor."

Anoxa turned and walked away without another word, and Kobak glanced behind him to see what had held her gaze, only to find Master Splyn-Ter standing in the doorway with an unreadable expression on his face as he watched her leave. The Drall glanced at him, nodded in acknowledgement, and then headed in the opposite direction.

He supposed that if the Sith deluded themselves with power then the Jedi must delude themselves with the fallacy that ignoring problems would make them go away. Regardless of alignments and loyalties, it seemed that all people were equally stupid.

 _That is the first honest thought, that any of my hosts have had in a long time._

Maybe coming to a mental understanding would result in a truce?

 _Only if in your truce, I get to give those wide-eyed miniature meatbags something to really fear_

Kobak smiled and waved uncertainly at the group of younglings eyeing him anxiously from down the corridor, before quickly walking away. He didn't really feel like bug zapping the parasite twice in five minutes…that really fucking _hurt_.

Time to visit the medical droid.

 _The what now?_

\- Five minutes later -

 ** _WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!_**


	7. Chapter 7

Months passed by and in that time the entire council had closed ranks and only select groups were allowed out of the ships for any reason during that time. They spent that time reflecting on the loss of life, so many people killed during Infernis's attack, so many hopeful children and strong knights wiped out in a single blast. All their backup plans were compromised by Luca's betrayal, so they drifted through the darkness of space preparing for the inevitability that they would encounter Infernis again.

The group of four Jedi were in the training hall, which had all but become their home for the last several months when X2 entered and walked toward them.

"Master, is there something you need from us?" Vic asked as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"No, but I have something which might interest you." X2 held out a data pad which Seraphina quickly took and examined it.

"What is it?"

"Something that you should not have, but I would recommend you looking at." He said nothing else than that and with a flourish of his robes he turned and walked out.

"Anyone else getting the feeling that this has to do with Luca?" Kobak asked.

"Definitely," Vic nodded. "Let's get it to one of our personal computers and look at what it is."

They hurried to Seraphina's room and plugged in the data pad, but as soon as they did they realized it was heavily encrypted. "Well, this isn't much help," she mused and began to type on her computer. After several failed attempts they all sat there in her room in a general state of disappointment.

 _You know…I could get that open for you._

"You can?" Kobak said outloud.

"Can what? What's going on?" Anoxa asked with a worried frown.

"I know you don't do anything for free. Why would you help me?"

 _Let's just say that if I do this you will owe me a favor._

"What kind?"

 _Just sometime in the future you will have to do something I say, no questions asked, but I can already guess your next question and no…it won't end up hurting your friends._

Kobak glanced at everyone and nodded. "Okay." He walked to the machine and then screamed as he felt the symbiote take control. Every neuron was suddenly fueled by fire as his body moved on its own. His fingers typed furiously, bringing up codes and programs which effortlessly broke through the encryption. "Ow…ow…ow," Kobak whimpered. It had been quite a long time since he had last felt that much pain. Normally the symbiote kept him from feeling anything, but when it took control, he felt like he was dying.

"What did you just do?"

"I let the symbiote hack into it," Kobak told her and beckoned them to come closer. "It looks like this is a scout report. It's reports on the locations that Infernis has been seen. He's been traveling to certain planets quite often."

"This is how we find him," Anoxa said with a venomous look in her eyes. "This is how we find _her_."

"The masters will never let us leave and we are traveling in hyperspace," Seraphina pointed out.

"We know one master who will help us though," Vic said. "And there has to be a way to get us out of hyperspace."

 _I know one_.

"What is it?"

 _Turn off the generator which powers the hyperspace._

"Wouldn't that hurt everyone?"

 _Yes. It would be rather splendid. But I doubt anyone would actually die from the ship suddenly being stopped in the middle of hyper speed. I could do it from here…_

Kobak thought on this and then grinned as he looked at the others. "Or we can go to the computer console which controls it and turn it off from there!"

"Remember, Kobak, we can't hear the voice in your head," Anoxa smirked.

"We go to the power console for the hyperspace controls and turn it off."

"

That's pretty guarded, only the masters have access to it," Seraphina mused.

"But in case of emergencies they have their own personal codes which can be used to do it remotely," Vic said. "X2 has helped ups before. He might again."

"If not, we could always take Splyn'ter's," Anoxa told them. "Either way, let's try to do this. Everyone get ready, if we turn off hyperspace we need to move quickly."

They nodded in agreement and got as much stuff as they could and then went to check on X2. His door slid open and they found him floating in the middle of his room, deep in meditation.

"Master, we need your help," Vic told him.

X2 slowly opened his eyes. "What more can I do for you?"

"We may or may not need your personal codes to potentially shut off the hyperdrive engine," Kobak told him.

X2 glanced at them and then closed his eyes back. "No."

"Awesome. We're stealing Splyn'ter's," Anoxa said and didn't wait for the others to go find Splyn'ter.

"You wouldn't happen to have it written down some place would you?" Vic asked hopefully as he slid a pad to him. "Or you know, you wouldn't happen to accidentally put it in my data pad would you?"

X2 didn't reply as he was already back in deep meditation. Vic sighed and looked back to his friends, but they had already left to find Splyn'ter. Quickly he chased after them. He found them in Splyn'ter's room, anger radiating off of Anoxa as she stood before him.

The small Drall was sipping on tea while sitting on his tiny table. Beside him rested Luca's damaged lightsaber, a memento had had taken hold of after he discovered her betrayal. Anoxa's eyes burned into the saber before she looked to him. "We're going after Luca. We need your code to get out of her," she said without bothering with any honorifics for him.

He stopped mid sip and looked to them. "I know this time has been hard for you, but-"

"No. No more talking. We need your code."

He frowned as he stared into Anoxa's angry eyes. "I am sorry, Anoxa, but I cannot help you."

"Not even to save Luca?" Kobak asked. "She was your student. Your padawan."

"I know what she was…and I know what she is now. That is why I cannot let you go after her. Go back to your rooms. Rest. Continue your training. That is how you can help her the most by growing stronger."

Anoxa balled her hand into her fist, but before she could Vic placed his hand on her shoulder. "You're right Master, forgive us." He tugged at her and with a grudging acceptance she walked out with the rest.

"I could have gotten his code from him. My pheromones-"

"He trained Luca, he would be accustomed to pheromones," Seraphina told her.

"Then I have a perfectly good blaster which would work as well," Anoxa said as she crossed her arms below her chest and took a deep breath. They were right. She knew it. But for the first time in months they had a chance, a small chance, and she wouldn't let it slip through her fingers.

"I've got an idea. I might can hack the code."

 _You mean I can hack it for you._

"You think so?" Seraphina asked him.

He nodded. "I got a really good idea of what the symbiote did. I think I can reproduce it. But doing it without the code will set the alarms off, and stop the ship which will likely cause some damage."

 _What? When I say that idea it's all no, that's immoral. When you do it they think you're a genius. I object to you using my ideas!_

"Then let's get to the docking back. We can use the Secret Runner and use the computer in there to hack it." Anoxa suggested. Gathering their gear, they headed to their ship and once they were on it Kobak used the same technique he had seen the symbiote use to hack into the main system. A few seconds later the entire ship was ripped from hyperspace. Their ship was tossed from its anchor, but Vic was still in the pilot seat and as soon as the ship stopped he had shot out from the hold and into the void of space.

Seraphina brought up the view cam to see the Jedi ship stalled and the power fading on it. It was damaged, but it could be repaired. "Sorry masters," she whispered. They had just betrayed the Order, even if they brought Luca back, would they be able to go back?

"We'll go to the system which is closest to us and start there," Vic said and keyed in the coordinates.

Anoxa smiled and sat back. For the first time in months she felt like she was actually doing something. The anger which had fueled her was still there, but now she was doing something about it. She wasn't just sitting there twiddling her thumbs. She would not return until she had found the Sith who had taken Luca and ended her.

After Kobak and Seraphina worked to disable their tracking device, they divided up what they had as far as resources. Since they went rogue, they didn't exactly have the supplies and credits that they normally would were they backed by the Order. "When we get there, we need to get the ship's credentials forged and repainted. We can't have the Order find us," Anoxa said. "We'll do what we can to hide ourselves and see what we can find when we get there."

The closest planet they could get to was planet Gaara, a sun scorched world rich in raw cortosis. Upon landing, the group changed out of their traditional robes into common clothes, and hid their deadly sabers within their confides. A man met them as they came out, a Trashdonian with a gravely voice. "What are you doing here?" he huffed.

"Just here on some business," Vic told him and with a slight wave of his hand mesmerized the man with the force. "We need our ship repainted and some records changed on it. You can do that for us, right?"

"I can do that for you," the man replied.

"Good," Vic smirked.

"We're looking for someone. Seen any dark clothed figures? Sith? People wielding lightsabers?" Anoxa asked him.

The man seemed confused. "No one comes here. Unless they're going for the cortosis. But the headquarters are all the way in the north."

The group exchanged knowing glances. Cortosis could deactivate lightsabers. If Infernis was doing anything on this world, acquiring that and making armor out of it would make his army even more fearsome. "How long will it take to get our ship ready?" Seraphina asked.

"A few hours."

Put your best people on it. We'll be back for it," Vic said and with that the four Jedi began to investigate the small port town that they had entered.

"Cortosis is bad stuff to be in his hands," Kobak muttered. "I never understood why the Jedi don't use it. It would save a lot of limbs." As he said this he eyed Seraphina's metal arm and knew that beneath her clothes Anoxa had a metal leg as well. His symbiote deactivated sabers on contact, meaning that while his bonding wasn't ideal, at least he would get to keep all his limbs.

"The Jedi have their ways. They believe that relying too heavily on armor would make you cocky, which could draw you close to the darkside," Anoxa explained. "It also dampens your warrior instincts when you have no fear of a blade."

"But isn't that better than death?"

Anoxa sighed. "Don't get me wrong. I think it's stupid too. It's one thing when your opponent isn't using it, but if Infernis is loading his troops up with cortosis then I'll be damned if I'm not going to fight them on an even plane."

"We've got a few hours to kill. Let's split up and see what we can uncover."

"I'll do that and see if I can't earn us some money while we're here," Anoxa said.

"Doing what?" Kobak asked with a confused and somewhat innocent expression on his face.

Anoxa just smiled to him. "What Zeltron's do best. Bring pleasure." She waved to them as she sauntered off down an alleyway.

"You think she's going to be okay by herself?" Kobak asked the others. "Ever since Luca, she's changed."

"She lost her best friend. Luca's one of our dearest friends, but to Anoxa, that was her other half. I believe that Anoxa could have gone through anything as long as Luca was there at the end of the day. The same could probably be said for Luca, but without her… I don't know. I don't think that connection is broken though. I don't believe it could ever be broken. She may say that she's searching for her to kill her, and perhaps she is. But I don't know if when she comes face to face with her if she could do it," Vic explained. "One thing I'm certain of though, may the Force help whatever Sith gets in between her and Luca."

Seraphina nodded in agreement. "Let's go. Time is something we don't have much of."

The group separated and agreed to meet back in a few hours when the ship was done to relay any information they might have. Anoxa was the last to return, but she also came back with several stacks of credits, enough to cover them for a little while should they need it. "You look more relaxed," Kobak smiled when he saw her.

"Yeah, it's nice to let loose every once in awhile," she said and ruffled his head as she took a seat. "I learned that there have been sightings of Sith here. They come in twos, though no one remembers seeing Infernis."

"He's pretty hard to miss," Seraphina mused. "No one has seen a Zeltron either. Do we think this is the right place?"

"Perhaps. Only one real way of knowing. Our ship should be done. Let's go and fly to the cortosis plant and see what we can find." Vic stood and the others followed. After acquiring their freshly updated ship they did just that. As they neared the plant, a signal was sent out from the command there.

"Ship, state your business," the voice came over.

Kobak looked to the others as he pressed the button. "We're inspectors," he blurted out quickly.

"Here to do an evaluation."

"What? This is the second one in three months. We were told we weren't due for another one till next year."

"Not my problem," he replied. "It's a surprise. So, surprise."

"Hold on. I'm gonna verify this with the higher ups."

Kobak's eyes widened and he muted their conversation. "Can you alter my voice?"

 _Sure thing kid._ The symbiote began to crawl up his neck and over his mouth forming a murky black mouth piece for him to speak out of. While it did that, his fingers danced across the console, trying to intercept the outgoing call. Once he did, he quickly brought up a new channel to speak to him through. "Hello?" he said in what sounded like a female Twi'lek's voice.

"Yeah, this is Bob from Sector 7 on Gaara. We've got some inspectors here and I need to verify their clearance."

"Hold please and let me check our records." Kobak took a few deep breaths to steady himself and buy time before he spoke again. "Yes, looks like you have four inspectors who are doing inventory control and checking personnel records and visitor logs. Allow them full access for what they need."

There was an audible groan from the other end. "Fine. Fine." That call was disconnected and the man, Bob, then tried to call Kobak back.

"Now give me my normal voice back."

 _Nah. Like the way Twi'lek's speak._

"Do it now or I will stab you with my saber."

 _Fine. Fine. Have it your way with your annoying voice._

The symbiote began to crawl back down his throat and Kobak quickly answered. "Did you get confirmation?"

"Yeah, I did. You're cleared to land. I'll meet you at the docking bay."

With that the connection was disconnected and Kobak sat back with a sigh. He was getting good at this!

Once they had landed they were greeted with a few officers who gave them each badges to get in. "You were granted full access. So we've got be cheerful to you. Where do you want to start?" Bob asked.

"We'll start with your computer records," Seraphina said.

"Fine with me. You'll see that all our stuff is up to date." He lead them through a few doors, allowing them access with his own badge. "This is our records room. Anything else you need?"

"No this will be all, thank you," Vic said. They waited for him to leave before Kobak sat down and began to pull up the security feeds and records.

"I'll see if I can find anything on Infernis."

"I guess I'll go through some of the other records," Seraphina said.

"While you do that, Vic and I will explore some."

"Be careful, we're not alone here," Kobak warned as he pulled up an image of two dark clothed figures walking through the area. One was a large monstrous form with thick armor, and the other was a slender and smaller frame wearing a similar armor with flowing robes.

"Sith," Anoxa frowned. "See if you can find what their ship is. We could track them if we don't end up killing them."

Kobak nodded and began doing just that.

Anoxa and Vic went through the plant, with Kobak given them information as they went as to where the Sith were. "Looks like they're getting ready to leave."

"I've got an idea," Vic mused as he stared at a rather large slab of cortosis. "This might come in handy."

"I'm fine with it. It's raw so we can't do much with it and can't touch it, but it could be a valuable bargaining tool."

"Just what I was thinking." Vic held up his hand and the air around it shimmered while space folded around it. It disappeared from sight, appearing within the confines of one of the holding areas which Vic pictured in his mind's eyes.

"Kobak, we're heading back now. Let's follow the Sith," Anoxa said.

Kobak downloaded the data and Seraphina grabbed some records before they headed out. The Jedi met up back at their ship with Vic and Anoxa getting in the pilot and co-pilot seat. "You got the Sith ship locked in our system?" Vic asked.

Kobak sat in the communication chair and inserted the data. "Yeah, I've got their records. They've already broken orbit."

"Then we'll follow them and find what they're planning," Anoxa said as their ship launched off after them. They were entering hyperspace when a message came over the system, breaching all their security protocols and forcing itself onto every screen.

"What the hell? I don't…I don't recognize this language," Kobak frowned. "Do you?"

 _Don't care. It's not important._

"I don't recognize it either. It's not like a language I've seen," Seraphina said from her seat as she stared at the image.

Anoxa froze as she read it. Her hand shook as she hit a few keys and brought them out of hyperspace.

"What's going on?" Vic asked her.

"I think we should wait," she told him. "I don't think we should follow them. Just track them."

"Why?" he asked again, but could sense the wavering feelings within. Her light flickered violently as if her entire world was suddenly shattering. That message had done something to her, that much was obvious. But what was it?

"Just…just a hunch." Her eyes stared at the screen in disbelief. The reason no one knew the language was because it was Zeltron, but not a normal dialect of it. It was augmented, a little joke between her and…Luca. It was only two words. Don't Follow. Why would Luca send that? Were they going into a trap? If so, why did she warn them. What was going on with Luca? "I-I need some time to think. Let's go to the next planet on the list." With that Anoxa left her seat and walked back to her room, needing a moment alone. She sat down on her bed and took off her boot. Her hand traveled over her foot, feeling where Luca's name had been engraved into it. All of her anger over the last few months was now fading in a wave of confusion. She had forced herself to try and distance herself from Luca, and yet now her heart was conflicted. Luca was always full of her secrets. She never told Anoxa the full truth to protect her, she never even told

Vic or Seraphina that she was an assassin. Was this the same thing? Was this just another secret that she had kept them from them? "Luca…why? What are you doing? Are you…are you really still out there?"

"I ran the message through our systems, but it can't recognize it. It's not any known language," Seraphina said as she slipped into the co-pilot seat and slipped her hand in Vic's. "Think she knows what it is?"

"Yeah, I think that's a good guess. I want to know what it is, but she'll tell us if we need to know."

"Now is not the time for secrets," Seraphina frowned.

"No, it's a time for a trust I think. We'll go to the next planet and try to figure out or next move."

As he put in the coordinates Seraphina shifted and looked at them.

"This is the next place?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's coordinates are similar to one of the ones listed in Infernis's holocrons. One of the weapons is suppose to be there."

"I'm way past the point of coincidences here."

"That makes two of us."

Anoxa came out of her room a day later when they were exiting hyperspace. She walked up to the cockpit as they appeared before an Imperial blockade around the planet. "What just happened?"

"You've got me but this bad. Kobak, get on the coms," Vic ordered and Kobak quickly hurried to comply.

"What are you doing here? Who are you?" One of the commanders of the several Imperial Star

Destroyers asked them.

"We're Je-"

 _Stop that! This the Empire! You trying to get me killed?_

Right! Kobak thought, they needed to be something commonplace. Smugglers!

 _We're dead_.

"We're ambassadors for peace," Anoxa said over his shoulder.

"Ambassadors? What are you doing on that ship?"

"Our previous ship was stolen. This was the only replacement we could get. We-" She paused as more ships began to appear beside them. She stopped and focused on the intense feeling she was getting from the ships. She reached out and used the force to far see, coming up with an image of the ships and realizing who it was.

"Damn it, it's Sith," the commander said. "I don't care who you are. Get down to the planet and we'll sort you out. Don't want any innocents caught in the crossfire."

"…really?" Seraphina asked in shock.

Vic didn't wait for them to second guess as a war was already beginning. He turned the ship toward the planet to get away from the battle. While they were flying, however, they got a good view of the Sith star destroyers. There were five in total, with four moving in a diamond formation with one in the center of that formation. The star destroyer was barely seen, but it was obvious that it was different from the others. Dark smoke billowed out of it and wrapped around the ship like an ominous cloud of dark energy and fear.

"If he's here then that means that there is something on this planet that he wants."

"The weapon," Seraphina said, finishing Anoxa's thought.

The ship landed and they were greeted by a worried and baffled human who looked up at the sky. "What are you doing here? Do you have word as to what is going on?"

"Sith are attacking, the-our Empire is going to keep us safe. But we've been sent down with the express purpose of locating and transporting a relic to safe keeping," Seraphina explained.

"I have no idea about any relics," the man said, obviously more worried about the space battle than whatever they were here for. "But if you've got business I'll secure your transport while you take care of it." He took out his ID card which was attached to a clip tie and waved it through a pad to alert the ground crew to refuel their vehicle.

"Is there a computer we can use? We have the coordinates and there might be information we can find about where we need to go." Kobak asked him.

 _Just saying, we could take the ship, fly up to Infernis and let me bond with him. You get rid of me and I get to join a powerful host. How is that for an idea? Sounds good to me. I mean, you will die, but that's a risk I'm willing to take!_

"Sure, just use the one over there," he said with a wave of his hand.

Kobak thanked him and hurried over to it. Inputting the coordinates that Seraphina gave him, he brought up a map of the area. "Looks like there is an archeological dig going on there…"

"Then we'd better hurry," Vic said. Anoxa was already securing them a ride which they took down through the forest paths and toward the dig site.

"Were you able to get much information about the site?" Anoxa asked as Kobak continued to work on a datapad.

"Not really. It just says they've been working on the site the last few weeks. Apparently this planet is a recent acquisition by the Empire."

"Oh…this isn't good," Vic said as they neared the site, seeing several dark clothed Sith guarding the site. However, the Sith bore the symbol of the Empire on their cloaks.

"The Sith work with the Empire now?" Kobak asked.

"No, not the true Sith under Krayt. These must be a different branch. Perhaps some sort of off shoot of the Imperial Knights," Anoxa explained.

"Regardless of who they are, they are going to be trouble. We can't use the force against them without starting a fight so we'll just have to lie our way through," Seraphina said.

"Let's do this then." Vic stopped their vehicle and the four of them got out only to be faced with several very angry Sith. One of which walked toward them wearing bright red armor.

"Who are you?"

"Envoys. A war is breaking out over head. We are here to acquire whatever artifacts might have been found so we can take them away and secure them in case the enemy makes it planetside," Kobak explained. "So, do you happen to have anything important?"

The Sith leader examined them and then looked around the area before nodding. "Yes, we have some tablets. Follow us inside and we'll prepare them for you."

Everyone relaxed a bit as they followed the Sith, but Kobak felt something was right. Very subtly, he reached out with the force to see if this leader bought his story. Unfortunately, he realized that he did not and they were walking into a trap. He tapped Vic and motioned for him to try to do something.

Vic realized what was going on as well and reached out with the force to try to compel the leader to believe them and do their bidding. As his powers wrapped around the mind of the leader he knew he had made a mistake. The leader's head turned toward him and he drew his lightsaber which shimmered with a blue light. "Kill them," he ordered. At that point all chaos ensued as lightsabers were drawn and the fight began.

The leader went straight for Vic, his lightsaber slashing into Vic's side, causing a freezing sensation to course through his flesh as ice crystals began to move along his side. Vic cursed at the feeling and waved his flying blades in an arch to lash out at his assailant.

As the battle progressed, Seraphina and Anoxa worked in unison to slice through the guards which saw the battle and moved to assist their friends. Seraphina wielded her blades in deadly unison, and Anoxa did her best to pick them off from afar with her blaster, but when they grew close she lashed at them with her light whip. Kobak moved up to where Vic and the commander were going at it, their lightsabers a blur of motion.

Using his symbiotes defensives, Kobak shrugged off lightsaber attacks and sliced through his opponents with ease. He side stepped as one of Vic's sabers flew past him to stab into the chest of one of the Sith who had managed to sneak up behind him. "Thanks!" He called out to Vic who just smirked and twirled around, his blades moving with him as he slashed through another who got too close. The commander knocked one of Vic's sabers out of the air, and as Vic moved to counter, throwing his his hand and sending blades right at him, the commander pushed them aside with a powerful blast of the force. He closed the opening in a second, slicing Vic's outstretched hand, cleaning the appendage off in a powerful stroke before slashing him across the chest and kicking him to the ground.

Vic collapsed in pain, screaming as ice covered his wounds and seeped inside of him. The screams and sounds of fighting were alerting more guards and both Anoxa and Seraphina were moving to them as they had left a path of dead bodies in their wake. "Keep your eyes on the battle boy," the commander hissed as he swung his blade at Kobak who raised his arm and caught the commander's outstretched hand which held his blade.

"I'm no boy," Kobak hissed as his eyes darkened. "I am a jedi!" He felt the symbiote bore his tentacles into his arm, but unlike this time he didn't feel any pain.

 _Oh…I like this idea._

It whispered in his mind as they worked in unison. Snapping the commander's arm with their combined strength, they drove his own saber into his smug mouth. The blade went right through him, his head slowly chilling into a frozen dome which shattered as Kobak pulled the blade from him. A lightsaber which froze? He didn't have time to ponder as he tucked it into his robe.

"Thanks for the help."

 _No one hurts my host but me_.

Kobak smirked and grabbed Vic as Seraphina got their vehicle. "That saber is one of the weapons on the list. It's a blade that freezes. It has the be what Infernis is looking for. We need to leave now and get Vic some medical aid." Alarms were starting to sound and they couldn't stay there any longer.

Getting into their vehicle, they took off, not bothering to look behind them as they pushed the engines to their limits to get back to the spaceport and back to their ship. "We'll take the helm, get him to the med bay and try to stabilize him," Anoxa told Seraphina.

"I was already planning on it. If we've got to go through that…" She stared up at the sky and at the explosions which filled it. By the time they got to their ship the majority of the people had left to make their own escape. Seraphina secured Vic in the medical bay and Kobak took the pilot seat while Anoxa took the co-pilot. As the ship soared into the upper atmosphere Seraphina injected Vic with some adrenaline to wake him up.

Upon breaking orbit, the sight which greeted them was one of death and destruction. All of the Empire's impressive fleet had been destroyed by Infernis's small group. A group of five Star Destroyers took and twenty and won… Though Infernis had taken loses, only the darkened smoke filled ship remained along with one final Star Destroyer.

"This is not good," Kobak said as he began to enter coordinates. Anywhere would be better than staying here.

"Kobak!" Anoxa's voice made him look up as a brilliant beam of pure red energy erupted from the phantom ship. The powerful beam ripped through the debris which floated in space and aimed straight for them. Kobak quickly brought the ship up, trying his best to avoid the beam. Their ship moved as quickly as it could, and only due to his reflexes did they dodge it all. Even so the beam still grazed their backside, breaking through their shields and rocking the ship.

"We can't survive this." Kobak slammed on the intercom button. "Vic, are you awake?"

Vic sat up and leaned against the headboard, his head was spinning and his nub of a hand still ached enough to make it hard to concentrate. "What's going on?"

"Bad things. Can you get us out of here?"

Vic didn't need to know what was going on to hear the panic in Kobak's voice. He wasn't in any state to stand, much less fold space, but he had to do it to save his friends. He held out his good hand and focused. He could feel everything around them. He could hear the alarms going off signaling a fire where the beam hit them. He felt Seraphina running from him to go and put out the fires. He let his mind meet with everyone else's as one thought echoed in their minds.

Where?

Anoxa's thoughts were the loudest in his mind. It was thoughts of Luca, thoughts of home. Using her memories the world around them faded as they were pulled from space right as another beam would have pierced their ship. The force of moving that much caused the already weakened Jedi to pass out under the strain, his body needing time to heal. Kobak stared in awe and Anoxa audibly gasped as she saw a world she had long forgotten. "Zeltros," Kobak said in shock.

"Home," she echoed. She was about to say more when another alert went off.


	8. Chapter 8

Kobak glanced down and swallowed hard as he read what the computer was saying. IT was noting that all six lifeforms on the ship were okay. Six. That meant there were two more…

"Anoxa," he whispered and pointed to the console.

Anoxa quickly reached out with the force to see who was there with them. As soon as she did, a powerful vision nearly knocked her out of her seat. She saw Infernis and a masked figure walking toward the medbay. She saw the blue frost saber that Kobak had shining a brilliant light into Infernis's chest while a figure appeared behind him, moving to decapitate him. Anoxa's eyes snapped open and she took several deep breaths before she glanced at Kobak and his saber.

"They're going to the medbay." Anoxa got up and drew her saber.

"Go to Vic. I'm going to set the self destruct sequence."

"Let me see the frost saber."

Kobak didn't ask questions as he tossed it to her and began to initiate the verbal self destruct sequence, setting a code in case he needed to use it. Anoxa raced out, her heart racing in fear, anticipation, and something else. The other presence she felt on the ship was one she could barely believe. The way it felt, the way that it reached out and touched her. Luca. She cursed herself for not telling Kobak, but her mind was still reeling from the vision. She didn't want to risk saying it over the coms. If her vision was correct, this frost saber was the key to killing Infernis. As soon as she got to the medbay Seraphina was just returning.

"What's going on?"

"Infernis is here he's-" Anoxa froze as the other door slid open and Infernis walked in along with his armored compatriot. Anoxa tried to reach out to the small figure, she tried to see if Luca was in there somewhere. "Cover me while I heal Vic."

Seraphina nodded and drew her blades. "What do you want Infernis?"

Infernis just stared at Anoxa as she placed her hand on Vic and used the force to heal him, bringing him back from the brink of unconsciousness. Vic stirred with a small groan and placed his good hand on his head. "What's going on-" He stopped as he felt Infernis's presence. "Why do I keep waking up in worse and worse scenarios?"

"Can you fight?" Anoxa whispered.

"You'd have to knock me back out to stop me." Vic stood and threw open his cloak, letting his lightsabers ignited as they hovered around him.

"I'll ask again, what do you want?" Seraphina demanded.

"You have something of mine," he replied calmly and stared at Anoxa.

"You're not going to get it," Anoxa said though her voice was uncertain. Last time Infernis wanted something the only way to keep it from him was to destroy it. If she did that to this they might lose their only chance of stopping him.

The door behind her slid open as Kobak entered the room. Before he could ask any questions the saber was put back into his hands. Anoxa stared at him, a single message passing her lips though they made no sound. Protect this. Kobak's symbiote was lightsaber proof. He was their best chance at keeping this saber from Infernis.

We going to have a problem? Kobak asked his symbiote. He could feel it being drawn to Infernis's presence like a moth to the flame.

 _No. As much as I'd like to be on someone worthy of my abilities, leaving you now is not in my best interest._

Then let's do this.

Kobak ignited the frost saber and stared at Infernis. "I am a Jedi knight! You will not take this from me!

 _Oh god…on second thought after that corny line I might do better with him. I think I threw up a bit._

"I always get what I want." He lunged at Kobak, who barely managed to counter his blades. Even though he blocked them, hot plasma danced across his exposed flesh, searing it and causing him to scream in pain.

"Kobak!" Anoxa moved to help. Around her a powerful light began to pulse, sending burning rays of light through the Sith, burning away at their flesh.

The armored Sith drew a fencing saber and launched itself at the weakened Vic. In mid thrust Vic countered and pulled the blade out of the Sith's hand while Seraphina stepped up beside him and sent the figure flying back out the open door and into the hallway. Before they could move to attack Infernis, the slender figure jumped through the air, legs moving in a blur of motion, kicking at the Jedi, but missing by inches. The figure landed in between them and turned to strike at Vic. The Jedi reached out and pulled the Sith's fencing saber to his good hand, but as soon as he activated it powerful volts of electricity shot out of the handle and into his hand, causing him to drop it.

In that moment the Sith's fist connected with his face while another slammed into his ribs. He stumbled back, but not before sending one of his floating blades down upon the the Sith's saber, shattering it beyond repair.

Kobak was slammed into the wall, the right half of his face nearly blinded by the plasma which dripped down onto him as Infernis barred down.

Help me!

The symbiote responded to his host's pleas and just like before Kobak felt the symbiote's tendrils move within his nerves, and just like before when they worked in unison he barely felt any pain. His strength combined with the symbiotes allowed him to push back against Infernis and strike at his side before he fell to one knee.

Infernis stumbled back and stared at his side, watching as icicles began to form along the wound. Kobak could barely hold his blade, but he didn't have to as the air around it shimmered and it disappeared. He looked up just as a female scream erupted from the armor. Vic was pressed against the wall, blood dripping from his face from the attack of his assailant. His outstretched hand was pointed to her chest, which was where he had folded space and sent the frost saber right into the heart of her. From her mask icy breath appeared and then the figure suddenly slumped over, frozen from the inside out.

In that instant, Anoxa felt the connection with Luca disappear. Just like that, her world seemed to fade and spin. Her trembling hands dropped her weapons as she collapsed onto her knees, silent tears streaming from her face, her radiant light casting a haunting shadow around her. Though she knew fighting was going on around her, the only sound she could hear was her racing heart, and her increased breaths as she tried to breath but seemed unable to. That feeling, that scream, it was Luca, it was her Luca! All this time she had convinced herself that the Sith had taken her, that killing the Sith would restore her friend's memory; but now that it happened it wasn't at all what she wanted. She wanted her friend! She wanted Luca, she wanted to hear her voice one more time, to hold her as she slept, to tell her all the things she hadn't told her before! She leaned over, hands on the ground, unable to breath and unable to see straight. She wanted to tell Luca that she was the most important person in the world to her and now she was dead, and now death seemed like a sweet release from this world which no longer made sense to her. How could there be a world without Luca?

"Anoxa!" Kobak looked at her, certain that he would find some wound on her, but there was nothing physically wrong. He reached for her but was sent flying back as Infernis backhanded him. The towering figure walked toward Luca's corpse and reached down for her.

"You're not getting away!" Seraphina shouted as she slashed at him from behind her. Her blades cut through his back and he hissed before a powerful blast from the force sent her body into the far wall which bent under the impact. Infernis turned back to her only to have force lightning slam into his chest. Vic stood before him, unleashing everything he had to try to stop him. Infernis just grinned as his wounds began to heal, his body absorbing the power of Vic's lightning. He stepped forward and grabbed Vic's good hand and tossed him toward Seraphina.

Reaching down, he picked up Luca and shimmered out of existence.

One by one they began to stir as groan as they got up. "At least I got one of them," Vic said in a pained voice, but with a large smile.

"No, you didn't," Anoxa whispered, her voice broken and raspy as if she had just screamed so hard her voice was gone. "You got one of us. That was Luca."

Vic's smile faltered and his jaw dropped. "W-what? No, you can't be serious."

Tears streamed down Anoxa's face and though she tried to wipe them away more came. She stood and placed her hand where Luca fell. "I felt her. I had a vision before everything went to hell. That frost saber was the key to defeating Infernis. That person that was with him, I wasn't certain until the end but that was her. Vic…you killed Luca."

Vic shook his head and stepped back, his good hand going to head as he slumped against the wall. No. He couldn't have. He couldn't have just killed his friend. He was supposed to save her not kill her! It couldn't be possible! "No! No!" He slammed his fist against the wall over and over again until blood dripped from his bleeding knuckles. "Luca…no." He buried his face in his hand and felt Seraphina place her hand on his shoulder.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Seraphina asked.

"I didn't have a chance. Infernis was upon us. It doesn't matter though now. She's gone…and I'm through."

"What do you mean?" Kobak asked her as he struggled to get up. The symbiote was spreading over the right side of his face to try and heal the damage done from the plasma.

"I mean, without Luca, I'm done. I'm done with all of this." Anoxa stumbled forward, unable to see through her tears. She pressed her hand to the door.

"Anoxa, I'm sorry," Vic said and looked up at her, suffering plastered to his face. He was living in his own personal hell in that moment.

"I'm not angry, Vic. Not with you," she whispered. "I just can't do this anymore. I can't…I won't."

"What will you do?" Seraphina asked her.

"Go down to Zeltros. Go home. See my parents. See…see Luca's parents and give them my regards. And tell them their daughter died a hero."

"She died a Sith though," Seraphina corrected.

Anoxa shook her head. "I don't think so." She looked back at them, the tears gone, replaced by a solemn look of sadness and apathy. "Back when we tried to follow them, that message that no one could figure out was from Luca. It was our made up language. She warned us not to follow. I think she was trying to protect us. If she was, then there's more to this than we know."

"Then we need to talk to the masters," Kobak said.

"You can. I'm going to Zeltros. I won't be going back with you."

Kobak walked to her, unable to believe what he was hearing. "But Anoxa-"

Anoxa ruffled his fin but didn't smile. Instead she put her light tanto his hand and squeezed it. "This is for you, Kobak. Maybe it will keep you safe."

"You're really going?" Seraphina asked her.

Anoxa nodded.

"And you saw in your vision that frost saber was connected to killing Infernis?"

"Yes."

Seraphina looked at Vic. He needed her now, but so did the Jedi. "I'll go to Zeltros with you." Vic turned to his head toward her but didn't say anything. "Vic, you and Kobak go back to the masters. Find them. Tell them what happened. Tell them about Luca, maybe you will learn more. I'll go to Zeltros with her and from there try to find out more about the sabers on my own. There were four of them together if I read the reports correct. Maybe we can find the others."

"So this is it?" Kobak asked and looked between them. Each of them looked so broken now and he couldn't rightly blame them. But he no longer saw the Jedi that he had looked up to as a small padawan. Instead he just saw people who had suffered so much and were now at the breaking point. "This is the end of the First?"

There was silence. It had been so long since they had used that name. Not since Luca had left had they called themselves that. "The First died long ago," Seraphina whispered.

Kobak balled his hands into fists as he watched Seraphina and Anoxa take their only fighter down to Zeltros. Vic had stayed on the deck, not having said much since he realized he had killed Luca. The fighter had barely left before the Secret Runner took off, leaving Zeltros behind. Leaving the rest of the First behind. Leaving behind the memory of their fallen friend.

"Luca, I'm sorry," Vic whispered as dark tears wet his eye wrap. He remembered the first time they had fought. When he had pulled her saber from her and he thought he had won only for her to then send him flying with a single punch. No matter how he messed up, she was always there to kick him back into shape. He never thought he'd be able to defeat her in a fight, but he was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Kobak moved behind him and took a seat in the co-pilot's chair. He was silent as well and leaned his head back, thinking back to Luca covered in blood after her friend had been killed and they fought the brutal war back on Isis. Even covered in blood and in mourning she had taken time to talk to him, to assure him things would be okay even when he was freaking out about the symbiote. She had put her suffering aside to check on him. That was the kind of person she was, always thinking of others.

Seraphina piloted the fighter through Zeltros's atmosphere, letting Anoxa sit in the back with her own thoughts. She couldn't believe Luca was gone. She hadn't thought much about her in the last six months, not like the others. She didn't know what she would do when they met again, but a part of her always secretly hoped they could bring her back to the light. Her mind drifted to the fateful trip that led them to this moment. With Luca so excited about making tiny clothes for her master. She smiled at the memory and wiped a tear from her cheek as she could hear Luca's voice in her mind talking about tiny top hats.

Anoxa stared out into space feeling numb and broken inside. She had long claimed that Luca was dead. That a Sith had taken her. But this…knowing she was actually dead was far worse than anything she could have ever imagined. She hugged her knees to her chest and leaned her head against her knees. She tried not to think of it. She tried not to think of Luca, but she couldn't. Nearly all her favorite memories had Luca in them. From their first adventures on Zeltros, to leaving with the Jedi when Luca refused to eat the food so Master Wolf Sazen mind tricked her into liking it. A sad smiled graced her pink lips. She missed her. She missed her friend and she knew that her world would never be the same. She would never be the same because part of her heart was now gone.

Months passed by far quicker than any of them could have believed. Anoxa stayed on Zeltros, having locked up her saber and started a business on her home world. She couldn't bring herself to speak with her parents or Luca's, but every day she would go to the graves their parents had created for them and laid flowers on Luca's grave. She hurt, she would always hurt, but she was moving on. She was starting a new life away from the Jedi, away from all the trouble which they brought. They had tried contacting her several times, and yet she ignored them. No matter how many times the Masters or even her friends tried to contact her, she just let the messages pile up.

Heading home from her nightclub, she took off her heels and coat letting out a soft, tired sigh. Pushing her pink hair out of her face she walked to the bar in her home and grabbed a drink. She mixed a few alcohols together forming a glowing pink drink which fizzed and sparked. Bringing it up to her lips she took a long sip before sitting down on a stool. "You going to talk, or just stand there staring at me?" She didn't look back, she had sensed him before she had even opened up her door. It seemed like the Masters had finally gotten tired of waiting for her to come back.

Master Solan stepped out from one of her rooms, having been examining some of her other rooms. He had seen more on Zeltros than he had ever dreamed of. He would have to meditate to purge some of these images from his mind. He cleared his throat and stepped to her. "We need you back, Anoxa."

"Pretty sure I've made it clear that I'm not coming back," she said, not bothering to hide the bitterness in her voice.

"What if I said that we had a way to beat Infernis?"

"I'd say good luck to you. Make certain to use Master Splyn'ter as a shield. He's so small you could just tie him to your arm."

Solan chuckled softly at that and took a seat. Her drink shot out of her hand as he took it and examined it. After sniffing it he grimaced and then took a sip. "This drink is far more dangerous than anything you have encountered…"

Anoxa finally turned to look at him. "Are you going to tell me the truth about Luca?"

He paused and sat the drink down. "Come with me and you will find out."

"I have not missed the cryptic Jedi bullshit." Her eyes narrowed at him. "Am I going to like what I find out?"

"Probably not," he admitted. "But I will say this, I was against the idea. I wanted to keep her safe. I wanted to keep you all safe."

Anoxa fisted her hands and stood. "I'm not saying that I'll stay. I'll go to hear what you have to say; but I reserve the right to leave whenever I want to."

"Fair enough," he smiled.

"Give me some time to tell work I'm taking a sabbatical." She got up and walked around Zeltros, hands in her pockets as she took her time going to her work. She loved it here. This place gave her a peace that nothing else could; but she knew she would never have full closure until she knew the truth about Luca. Heading back home, she was met by Master Solan who lead her to his ship.

She was not the only one being called back as Kobak was returning from training on the forests of Kashyyyk, Vic was returning from a mission thinning out Sith numbers, and Seraphina had been gone for months, searching the far wastes for information on the other legendary sabers which had eluded them. They came together in the hallway by their rooms and smiled at each other as they met up. Kobak calmly looked away as Seraphina and Vic shared a passionate hug and a tender kiss. "You haven't replaced your hand?" she asked as she saw his nub.

"No…it's a reminder," he told her with a sad look in his eyes. "Of things I need to get better at."

"Well, I'm glad to see you," she whispered and kissed his cheek, causing him to blush and smile.

"Me too."

"I'm glad to see you too," Kobak said and waved to them so that they would realize he was there.

 _Murder them. Kill the mushy embrace of lovers! All who display such affection should die!_

Kobak just smiled, having grown accustomed to the murderous blood lust by now, and let it just sink into the background.

"Aren't you guys a sight for sore eyes?"

Everyone turned to Anoxa and before she could prepare herself Seraphina rushed in and hugged her. Anoxa froze, not accustomed to such emotional physical contact with her. "You okay?" Seraphina asked.

Anoxa didn't reply, she just hugged her. "It's really good to see you guys again. Do any of you know what's going on?"

"Not anymore than you do I'm assuming," Kobak said as he placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. "But it has to be important if they're calling us all back."

Anoxa remembered those words all too well, as it was the same call which got the First Order back together the first time after training with their masters. "You've grown," she finally said as her Rodian friend was finally eye to eye with her.

"I don't know how much of that is the symbiote and how much of that is me, but I'll take it."

 _You actually have no legs now. It's just me._

"Come with me knights. There is much we must discuss," Solan said and beckoned them toward the council chamber. Anoxa noticed how damaged the ship was and it seemed as if most of it was relatively new. Just how bad had things been since she left? She looked at the others for answers.

"We've had our fair share of run-ins with the Sith Empire and the normal Empire. A lot of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Kobak explained.

"So I see…" Upon entering the council chamber she was shocked to see the once meditate area had been transformed into a very active war room. Screens lit up all around the center as pages upon pages of information about Infernis were displayed on them. The other masters including Grand Master Skywalker were all staring at the information intently. Seraphina quickly pushed her way toward them and began to intently study the information.

Grand Master Skywalker looked down at her and smirked before turning toward the others. "One of our spies has returned with information to beat Infernis. We now know more about him than ever before. But I think it would be best to let our informant explain what they have learned." With a flourish of his hand he motioned to a figure clad in black that none of them had been able to sense earlier.

The figure wore all black Sith clothes with a dark cloak and mask. Pulling the hood of the cloak down revealed bright blue hair. As soon as Anoxa saw the hair her breath caught in her throat. The figure then went for her mask and twisted, pulling it off to reveal pink skin and amber eyes.

"Luca!" Vic cried as her presence was suddenly revealed to him and her calming force nature broke through the darkness which had originally surrounded her.

Luca stood there before them, the bottom half of her face covered by a half mask to hide the scars from her last battle with Infernis. She stood there staring up at her friends with a bit of an uneasy look in her eyes. "H-hi guys…" She saw Anoxa moved and readied herself. Standing still as Anoxa's fist slammed into her face, nearly knocking Luca to the ground.

Anoxa stood over her, her hands trembling and tears straining against her eyes as she stared down at Luca. So many questions ran through her head. She hated her. She loved her. She wanted to murder her. She wanted to hug her. She wanted-

Luca pulled her half mask down and wiped the blood from her lips before she grabbed Anoxa's collar and pulled her down into a kiss. It was a kiss full of longing and passion, a year's worth of missed moments and desire fueled the kiss leaving Anoxa breathless and the Jedi Masters looking away as their cheeks tinted red at the sight of the two girls pressing their bodies against one another. Luca slowly pulled back and smiled up at Anoxa. "You still taste the same…"

Anoxa nodded slowly, the anger and fire having been doused by Luca's kiss. Her hand slipped into Luca's and she squeezed it tightly, vowing to not let it go. "We have much to discuss."

"I know. I will tell you everything," she promised and then turned her gaze to the masters and her friends. "As you guys are now learning, I never fell to the dark side."

"But we felt it," Seraphina argued.

"I know." Luca let the dark side energy fall back over them as she raised her free hand to reveal the dark fire on her fists which her friends had seen so often before. The color of the flames was a dark red, the same as Infernis's flame. "I never revealed to you that I was trained as a Jedi Shadow. I learned how to mimic the dark side and make it my own. I couldn't tell you because I was afraid of spies…but even though I walked through darkness I never truly fell." All at once the flames which consumed her hands ignited with a brilliant blue flame which was powered by the pure light side of the force. "I am sorry for the deception, but I had to do what I could to keep you safe. You were never supposed to have come after me, but some masters did not have faith in me." As she said this she glanced over to X2, a look of scorn and distrust in her eyes.

"What you did had never been tried or accomplished before. I did what I thought was best to protect a good knight," X2 explained.

"He was not alone in his thoughts, Luca. While we are glad that you survived, we were all worried about you," Solan said with a smile. "But you have proved us all wrong it seems."

"But you have no idea how proud you have made us by returning as you have." Master Splyn'ter was beaming proudly, his hands resting on his cane and his ears perked up. He had nothing but the utmost confidence in his student, at least that is what she would know. He would never tell her he had assisted in disarming the light speed generator so her friends could go after her.

Anoxa looked over to Splyn'ter and swallowed hard. She was going to have to owe him quite a few apologies…

With that, Luca explained to them the plan which she had put into motion the moment they returned from Isis.

When everyone arrived at the temple, they were met in the docking bay by Grand Master Skywalker, Master Mai, and several medical personnel. The medics quickly got to work on everyone and led the majority of them back to the med bay before Skywalker turned his gaze upon Luca with a puzzling glance. "So, things haven't been going well it seems."

"It has been a trying week," Luca said with a tired sigh as she held up the holocron. "That being said, we killed one of Infernis's apprentices. Got the holocron. Saved as many as we could on Isis before Krayt's Sith could kill them. So, there's that..."

"So Isis has been lost then?"

"Yes... While we were there, Krayt's forces arrived en masse."

"This is very troubling news. Isis was one of the last supply lines that we had. You said in your transmission that you wanted a meeting with the council? Everyone has been summoned, and are awaiting your arrival."

She nodded once more and clutched the holocron to her as she followed Skywalker to the council chambers. The walk was quick, Vic, Seraphina, and Kobak went with Anoxa and the medical crew, while Skywalker lead Luca in the opposite direction. She stopped just for one last glance back at them before she hurried to catch up.

"I see that you have returned with Kobak, and the holocron that he was sent after, but not his master. Were my feelings correct? Have we lost another Jedi?"

Luca's throat tightened a bit as she thought back to Wolf Saizen's death. A death which she was partially responsible for. "Unfortunately you are correct. He fought Infernis and another apprentice, the one that we ended up killing. Vic and tried to help, but in the end nothing we did could save him."

"Our numbers are getting smaller and smaller young one, We need to find a way to put a stop to this soon, or there may be no order left to train."

With that, the two of them reached the council chambers, and the door slid open. This room was one she had seen only vaguely here and there. She had seen it many times when she was younger, but as she grew and became a knight she had only ever seen it in passing. It was strange being back here, it seemed so long since she was last in this place and yet at the same time it was as if she had never left.

The room itself was roughly oval shaped, the walls covered in dark blue and purple dressing. There were twelve large chairs in a circle around the center of the room, of which three were empty. Skywalker took his seat, and motioned for you to stand in the center, in front of all the masters.

"Feel free to speak young one," Skywalker said. "What tale needs to be told?"

"A tale of training, masters. A tale of a blade, hidden within the shadows." She bowed her head and sat the holocron down before them. "I don't know why he wants this, but it has weapons, fearsome and powerful ones listed within its pages." She fell silent for a moment, as if she was contemplating something, struggling with something. "I was trained by Master Splyn'Ter, and I'm certain all of you are aware of what I am capable of. I have denied my nature for too long. For far too long I lived under the whimsical guise of a pacifist. I struggled not to kill. I fought against my nature... I fought against myself. I restrained my movements, I held back my attacks, I defended when I could have attacked. In my time I have seen friends grievously hurt...I have lost people. I will not lose more. No longer will I be the scared little girl who cringes at the sight of blood. No longer will I hold back. I have watched the darkness corrupt one of my friends, I have seen its effects and what it can do. Long ago my master spoke of a plan to get close to Krayt, to assassinate him to save thousands of lives. I ask now, that we use that plan for me to get close to Infernis."

"Be careful with those thoughts Luca," Solan Spoke up, his eyes wide as he stared at the young woman before him. Though he saw what the others masters saw, a knight who had been through hell and back, he also saw the young girl he had first started training that asked him if she would ever have to kill. His heart hurt as he saw her now. "We all know how strong you are, and using that power to harm others, rather than to defend, could very well lead to the darkside corrupting you."

"What she says is true though," Ezra spoke up. "For all of us. we sit here, day in and day out doing nothing but training, while the Sith and Infernis kill us off one by one."

Skywalker raised his hand to silence them. "You speak like you have a plan young one. Do you have someone in mind to complete the said mission?"

Luca held out her right hand as a second saber, never activated, ignited beneath her palm. All around her the master's sensed a shift in her as if darkness had completely consumed her heart. She smiled coldly at them, her already amber eyes seemed to shine with the dark side of the force. "As I said, I am a blade in the shadow masters, and I have seen the effects of the dark side. I can mimic it. I can pretend to give myself over to it and get close to Infernis." As she said this, just as quickly as it appeared the feeling of darkness was gone.

Skywalker leaned back in his seat, deep in thought.

Solon, on the other hand stood quickly and shook his head. "That's preposterous! You're barely a knight, and you want to go running right into Infernis's arms? I won't allow it!"

"She has a point." It was Mai's turn to speak this time. "Out of all of us, her group, the First, has had the most experience with Infernis . Several times they have met him, and been able to live to talk about it."

Skywalker stood. "If this were to happen, it would have to remain completely secret. No one could know, not even your friends Luca. They would have to see you as an enemy, as a friend betrayed. do you think that both you and they can handle that?"

At this point it was Toa Sen who spoke up. "You're joking right? You're not going to tell Anoxa? I beat the sadness out of her. All she would feel is anger." The masters looked to him with just a hint of contempt, but he ignored it. That was an ordinary look, they knew what they were getting into when they put him on the council. "I forced her to make contingencies for the blind one and the book worm," his eyes locked on Luca's. "She could never fathom you turning on her. The mere thought of trying to think of something for you almost broke her. If you do this, if they are dumb enough to let you do this without telling her, she will do as I taught her. She will aim to kill you, Luca. She will throw everything she has into studying your style, to figure out your weakness, and should you ever meet in battle, she will hold nothing back. She will treat you as an enemy and given the chance she will kill you, more than likely at the cost of her own life."

The blade deactivated and Luca stood there, silent once more. "Anoxa..." She bit her lip as the first sign of uncertainty came to her. She was fine going to Infernis. Fine sacrificing her life, but Anoxa? Could she lie to her best friend? Anoxa would hate her... She would be crushed, she would be broken and betrayed... but she would get stronger... That heartache and pain would make her stronger than ever before. Luca stepped back a bit, as if the weight of that decision physically weighed on her. She glanced to Splyn'Ter who had been silent this whole time. He was her master, why hadn't he spoken? What she saw though in his eyes was sadness, the same look that she saw in Solan's eyes. Would they stop her? Was she strong enough to do this? "I can handle it, masters. My friends...knowing what I am about to do would just put them in danger, it would put me in danger. I have seen them, they are too honest. They are too good. Their faces would give away any type of deceit... They may hate me, but I will bear that burden to get close to him. I will let them hate me; and perhaps though I cause them emotional pain, I can save them from some physical trauma. If they come for me, I will let them... Even if I cannot kill him, perhaps I can find some information, some clue as to how we can defeat him. "

"This is a very big decision, and must be thought on. Give the council time to make a decision." Skywalker's attention moved down to the holocron. "You say this had information about weapons? Perhaps Infernis knows about its contents somehow. We have to make sure that he doesn't get his hands on it. Has the Gate keeper made himself aware to you yet?"

"No, he has not," she told him. "We saw the contents, but never spoke to the Gate Keeper."

"That's troubling...Take it to the research labs, and give it to them. I want to know everything this holocron has on it, so we can be better informed about what Infernis is after." And without saying it, Luca could feel she had been dismissed. Already the council started murmur among themselves about plans and strategies. Luca looked at all of them and her eyes fell on

Splyn'Ter. She cleared her throat, wanting to let them know she was still there.

"One final thing master's," Luca said as she picked up the holocron. "If I do this, if I go with him... keep them safe. I leave them in your care, and I will be watching." With that, she turned and left them to speak amongst themselves.

Luca took a deep breath as she returned to the present and met her friend's eyes, slowly turning her gaze up to Anoxa. "I knew when I stabbed him in the chest during our battle that we couldn't kill him in the traditional sense. That was when I made up mind. When I was with Infernis, I learned a lot about him, mostly from sneaking and observing. He is not very trustful with his information. I will do my best to keep everything coherent. The first being that I did not know until it was too late that he had tricked you guys into believing I was dead. If I had known… Well, I'm sorry."

"How did he mimic you?" Anoxa asked. "Your fighting style. Your force presence. I swore it was you."

"You killed Darth Smoulder whose special power was being able to mimic the force presence of anyone they had come across with. I had been training Smoulder in my fighting style, per Infernis's wishes. I didn't put the plan together as I was focused on him, but it seems that Infernis has taken a direct interest in our group. He always gets what he wants unless we are involved. He used Smoulder to think that you had killed me so he could break up our group. Which…it looks like it worked." She took a deep breath and met Vic gaze. "I heard that you were the one who 'killed' me. I assumed as much when I found out the ice saber was inside Smoulder."

Vic was leaning against the wall, his good hand running through his hair as he tried to wrap his head around all of this. "You're alive. I just… I still can't believe it. All this time I thought that I had killed you."

"But you didn't Vic. You did good…though not so much in the fact that you gave Infernis the frost saber."

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"Infernis is immortal. I mean that in the truest sense. He can be killed, but when he does he just comes back to life."

"What? How!?" Seraphina asked in shock.

"Infernis has a dreadnaught off in dark space. His force is much larger than anything we could have predicted. It is made up of soldiers from the Sith, Empire,…and even Jedi, hence why I was concerned about spies. In that dreadnaught is a special ritual chamber which acolytes of Infernis use to bring him back from the dead. They use ashes to form a new body for him and pull his soul from the force and put it into the new body."

"So…that's why he was sealed away. The older Jedi couldn't kill him," Kobak mused.

"Exactly and none of their records indicate that they were ever able to discover the method of him coming back to life," Tao Sen explained to them. "So we are already a leg up on that."

"Yes, but it's still not simple. The four legendary sabers were created to imprison him with a sphere of pure force. That is what we unlocked that day. His tomb was specially created just for him. One of the legendary sabers can stun him, but all four are needed to seal him."

"I have done research on them!" Seraphina quickly said. "We know where the frost saber is, but I have found a lot of information on an electric one which-"

"Infernis has that one," Luca said sadly. "He keeps the frost saber and electric ones on him at all times."

"Damn," she whispered. "But there is also one that negates the force and one that I haven't been able to find anything about. I mean nothing. It's just nothing… But the negation one, that I might have coordinates for."

"That would be a great starting point," Luca smiled. "Because we've got more problems. I think the only true way to defeat him is to get rid of the device he uses to resurrect himself. Even if we do seal him away for good, from what I've seen there is a chance that his device can be used by anyone. Which means we could remove him and end up with something more dangerous; but if we want to do that then we have to team up."

"Team up? You aren't implying what I think you are," Grand Master Skywalker said with a narrowed brow.

"The first rule Master Splyn'ter taught me was to dodge," Luca smirked. "But the second one is the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We do not have the army to take on Infernis's fleet. To stand a chance we need to side with either the Empire or the Sith, realistically though, we could do a lot worse than to team up with both of them."

Skywalker sighed and stroked his beard. "This is not good."

"Not good is surviving a year with Infernis," Luca pointed out. "All sides have lost troops and good men to Infernis. At the very least it's worth a shot."

"Agreed. Though I don't like it," Skywalker grimaced. "If need be could you sneak back into the dreadnaught? How much does Infernis trust you?"

"She's not going back," Vic said before anyone else could.

Anoxa moved Luca behind her as she glared at the masters and it quickly became evident that none of them were letting Luca out of their sight again.

"It's okay," Luca said and placed her hand on Anoxa's shoulder. "I might could go back, but it would be difficult. I burnt some metaphorical and literal bridges when I left. As for Infernis, he kept me at arm's length. I never truly knew what his goal was for me. He kept me in a giant mech suit to slow me down. I don't know if he wanted me slowed in case I was going to make a move against him or if he was trying to increase my strength… but he never really trusted me much more than anyone else."

"Then for now it seems our course is set. The First Order is reactivated. You will go in search for the missing saber and we will set our eyes on negotiating with the enemy." Skywalker nodded and glanced back at the information. He had felt certain he was sending the Zeltron to her death, but this…this was better than anything he could have imagined. Surviving a year with the Sith though, a year with Infernis, he worried how that might have changed her. He looked back at her as she raced to hug each one of her friends and then assault her Master by lifting him up in the air and hugging him. "You have spent more time with her Solan. What do you think?"

"I think what she did was nothing short than the will of the force for it to have gone as well as it did. She's back though and seems no more worse for wear. I can't imagine she is unchanged by her ordeal, but only time will tell what happened to her during this last year."

"We'll keep an eye on her," Toa Sen assured him and crossed his arms over his chest. His idiot apprentice was smiling again. She had trained so hard to kill her friend, and now she was back. Luca's 'betrayal' had made his apprentice stronger, both physically and mentally, so at least something good had come out of it.

"She is my apprentice, Toa Sen, if anyone will keep an eye on her it will be me," Splyn'ter said as he stroked his beard.

"You show too much faith in her," Toa Sen argued.

"Has she not earned a bit of faith on our part?"

"Master! Before we go, do you still have it?" Luca hurried back to him and stared anxiously at her tiny master.

"Have what?" Splyn'ter asked with a smirk.

"You know! I couldn't take it with me! You fixed it right? You made it better?"

Splyn'ter smiled as reached behind him to hand her back her saber. Luca jumped up and down as she took her reforged blade and activated it, staring as the ember blade matched her eyes. "Thank you master!" She hugged him again and then tucked her blade behind her black cloak and raced out to the door where her friends were waiting on her.

Luca ran her hand over the panels of the Secret Runner and took in the scent of their ship. She watched as Seraphina keyed in the coordinates, taking the co-pilot seat while Vic took the pilot seat. She glanced back as Kobak took a seat on the communications center. It seemed as if everyone had taken new positions while she had been gone. It made sense…they had to move on.

Anoxa grabbed Luca's hand before she could think much on it and pulled her back to their room.

"Come on. We're having that talk now."

"Okay, but am I going to get hit again?"

"Maybe!" Anoxa huffed as the door opened and she and Luca stepped into their old room. Luca smirked at her from behind her half mask, her amber eyes taking in her friend's expression. She was searching for answers, her mind racing and anger flooding in her eyes; but all Luca was focused on was the happiness that was sparked within them. "Tell me why and then promise me that you will never lie to me again, because hat you did nearly killed me. I thought that you were dead and I thought that I had died that day to."

Luca took a deep breath and she pushed off her hood and slid down her mask so that Anoxa could see her face. She couldn't lie to her, not like this. Taking a seat on her bed, she stared up at Anoxa. "I'm sorry, Anoxa. So very sorry...I had considered it for a while. You know what I am, Anoxa, you know me better than anyone ever has or ever will. It all happened so fast. Shepard was killed. You lost your leg. I was so full of rage and hatred, I very well I could have gone to the dark side. When we first got to Isis a part of me wanted to run away. To be a space pirate and forget all this Jedi stuff…but I couldn't. Two things kept me here."

Anoxa met Luca's eyes and her hard gaze softened a bit. "I know one of them," she admitted softly.

"Yes, you do," Luca said with a small smile. "The other was Infernis. We let him out. All the lives he has taken are on us. I can't turn my back on the Jedi until I know he has been taken care of."

"So you do want to leave the Jedi?"

"Maybe? I don't really know." Luca bit her lip and hugged herself as she contemplated the options. Slowly Anoxa took a seat beside her. "I want to, but it's all I know now."

"You know I left them," Anoxa finally said.

Luca nodded. "I know. I visited Zeltros once to check up on you. You looked really happy."

"I would have been happier if I hadn't thought my best friend was dead."

Luca swallowed hard, knowing that though her words were soft there was a coldness to that response. "I know. I tried to protect you, Anoxa."

"I didn't need protecting."

"Yes you did."

"I am a warrior, Luca. I'm trained to hunt the Sith! I might not be as quick as you or even as powerful, but I am a Jedi. I'm not anymore special than-"

Luca's finger came up over her lips to silence her. "You are though. To me…." She sighed and let her head fall. "I love you, you idiot."

Anoxa's words failed her for a moment. She loved Luca, of course she did, but this was different. Their kind loved everyone, that was who they were. But she could tell from the way Luca was acting, this love was very different. "Luca I-"

Luca shook her head to stop her. "Tell me what it was like."

"What what was like?"

"Zeltros. Our home. Our families. What was it like being free?"

Anoxa leaned back a bit as she thought back to her days on Zeltros which were already starting to become blurry in her mind as if they were nothing more than a dream. "It was nice there. I didn't speak with our parents, I wanted to, but I couldn't bring myself to. What could I tell them? Hey, you know how you thought your kids were dead? Well one of them isn't! I visited your grave every day when I got off work. Your grave is covered in flowers from all over the planet, it is made of crystals which shimmer in the light. It's beautiful."

"As it should be," Luca smiled.

Anoxa nodded in agreement. "It was peaceful there. I still felt connected to the force, and it still tugged at me, but I was free. I didn't have to fight or worry, I was able to relax and indulge in life. Truly live for once in my life. I was home."

"It sounds wonderful."

"It was, it really was…but even now it doesn't seem real. I'm back here, in robes, with you, on this ship… It's like it never happened. When I came back everything seemed so wrong. The war. The plans of the Jedi. For being peacekeepers all we do is bring death. I didn't hurt anyone on Zeltros…at least no one that didn't want to be hurt." There was a bit of a grin which graced her lips as she looked at her friend. "You came to see me?"

"I did. Once. I was in between missions and knowing that you were there, I had to see you. I watched you from afar, shielding my presence. I wish you had stayed, Anoxa. Then you would be safe."

Anoxa moved an arm around Luca and hugged her small friend to her. "We will keep each other safe here. Knowing you were here, do you really think anything could have kept me away?"

"No," Luca admitted.

"Exactly. If we defeat Infernis-"

"When we defeat him," Luca corrected and then finished her sentence for her. "We will talk about what we will do then. We don't have to be Jedi forever. We can clean up our mistake and leave the Jedi to do what they do best. You can show me Zeltros, and show me your business."

Anoxa nodded. "I like that idea."

"Me too…and I promise."

"Promise what?"

"Never to lie to you again." Luca squeezed her hand and they stayed like that for a while, just basking in the silence and each other's presence.


	9. Chapter 9

A few days later their ship rested at the coordinates of the last known place where they were supposed to find the force negation saber, however, that is not what they found.

"It's just dark," Vic said as his sightless eyes peered out into the void.

"Dark space, nothing is here," Seraphina mused.

"No, I mean yes, but no. It's just dark. I can't sense the force outside of our ship."

"That can't be right," Kobak said as he looked through their scanners. "There should be a planet here. There's just nothing. Not even remnants of a destroyed planet."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Anoxa asked as she paced the ship.

"It can't be a coincidence that we're here and for some reason we can't sense the force," Seraphina pointed out. "The saber has to be doing this."

"Either that or it's the Yuuzhan Vong coming back," Luca said as she crossed her arms and thought about their situation. She tried to meditate and focus on the force, but it was as if she hit a wall as soon as her thoughts left the ship. Opening up her eyes she headed toward the back of the ship.

"What are you doing?" Anoxa asked as she watched her.

"I'm going out of the ship. Something weird is going on here. Not certain if it will help, but I want to see if there's anything special outside."

"I'll go with you. If there's a change in the force I'll be able to pick up on it quickest." Luca nodded and the two of them headed to the docking area where they could put on suits. Anoxa came with them so she could monitor the tethers to keep them to the ship.

Once they were suited up they exited the ship with Vic tethered to Luca. As soon as he left the boundaries of the ship his vision went completely black. "There is no force out here," he muttered and gripped onto the tether to Luca. He was not completely blind and it was a sensation which genuinely bothered him. It was the sensation of losing a limb, a phantom sensation which left him unable to get his bearings. As he reached for her, he paused and slowly turned his head. "Luca…you're back for real, right?"

Luca paused as she floated there and turned toward him. "You don't trust me?"

"I do, it's just…we can't take something like that again. What you did, it nearly destroyed our group. After all we've been through, next time include us in your plans. We're a team and we work better together. I can't…I thought I killed you. You have no idea what that was like."

Luca nodded, though she knew he couldn't see it. "Vic?"

"Yeah?"

She pulled his tether so that he was closer to her. "Infernis sends his regards," she whispered in his ear.

Vic quickly twisted around, flailing in the absolute darkness as the threatening words made him realize he was in danger…at least until he heard Luca's laughter. Luca was doubled over in space, floating away from him with tears in her eyes as she watched the blind Jedi twist and flail around trying to strike at an opponent that was no longer there.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I just couldn't resist!"

"I am going to murder you for real this time!" He shouted and tried to lunge at the sound of her laughter. Even as he attempted to murder her he was smiling though. She had given him his answer in her own way. She was back. This was their Luca.

Luca's laughter was cut short as she held back Vic with one hand while he tried to strangle her. Her eyes turned toward their ship which seemed to be preparing for hyper space, but that couldn't be right. "Hey, Anoxa? What's going on in there?"

Anoxa was quickly trying to reel them in as their tethers went taunt and they were pulled toward the ship. "The ship is going crazy. Seraphina said that the ship is entering hyperspace!"

"What!?"

"Did I just hear right?" Vic asked. His answer came as Luca grabbed hold of him.

"Brace yourself," she said as she turned around and threw him as hard as she could toward the ship. The momentum of her throw and the fact that they were tethered together pulled them both quickly toward the ship. Anoxa already had the doors open and grabbed Vic as soon as he hit the deck and then helped Luca in as well. No sooner did the two Jedi get in and the door was sealed did the Secret Runner enter hyperspace.

"I knew you were still upset with me, but you didn't have to try to kill me!" Luca said in gasps to Anoxa as she took off her helmet.

Anoxa shot her a look as she helped them out of their suits. "It wasn't me I swear. Kobak, what's going on up there?"

"I don't know. All the systems seem fine but we have no control over the ship," he told her.

 _Like you have control over anything in your pathetic life._

"Not now!"

 _Fine. Fine. Just saying, you're basically a breathing puppet._

"Nothing is responding!" Kobak snapped and pushed every button he could think of but their ship simply wouldn't react. He looked over at Seraphina who was doing the same thing on her side. Together they were at a complete loss. In the instant that they traveled the ship burst through hyperspace and came upon a diamond shape planet which shined brilliantly, nearly blinding the pilots.

"It's…beautiful," Vic whispered as he looked up and saw the planet through the ship's hull. It was the most vibrant thing that he had ever seen. It was illuminated by the sheer power of the force and made everything else pale in comparison.

The trio raced to the cockpit to see what was going on. They had already broken atmosphere and got a better look at the planet as they began to land. It was pointed on each end, with lush green lands and ice caps, in the middle of this diamond like paradise the center part of it was filled with rushing water and burning lava which swirled together forming a natural equator along it. Their ship landed on the northern hemisphere and once it had landed the controls went completely dead.

"Still nothing," Kobak told them.

"I don't think it matters. I think we're right where we need to be," Seraphina told them. They all looked back as their docking bay opened and Vic was already stepping out. "Vic! Wait!"

"It's okay," he told her. "This place…it's okay. I can see perfectly here."

The others exchanged glances and slowly followed after him. As soon as they stepped out onto the grassy plain they could tell the difference of this world. The air seemed clearer, the lights more bright, this world felt peaceful and they could feel the force in everything around them. "What do you think this place is?" Anoxa asked out loud as she looked around.

"I have no idea," Seraphina admitted. "But we were searching for the lightsaber and suddenly brought here. Safe to say the two are connected." She watched Vic as he walked around and touched one of the trees. She smiled at the look of fascination on his face. "What is it?"

"I think this might be a force tree! We should take some of the small saplings back with us."

"I don't see why not," she said and moved to help him secure some of the saplings while the others surveyed the area.

"Think you can use your force sight to give us some idea where the blade might be here?" Luca asked Anoxa as they walked hand in hand and examined their surroundings.

"Yeah, I was already thinking about that." She closed her eyes and drew from her power as well as Luca's to focus on the planet. Her mind raced across the entire planet, scouring it in an instant as the power of the force allowed her to search for their goal. She focused on their search for the lightsaber, and as her mind narrowed it search she found what she was searching for…at least, she thought she did. In the mixture of water and lava there was an area where hundred of lightsabers rested. Each one different in its own way, impossible to tell just from where she was which one was the one we were looking for.

She snapped back to reality as Seraphina and Vic finished with the plants. "It seems as if there are a lot of sabers located toward the middle of the planet."

"Did you see which one is the one we are looking for?" Kobak asked as he ran his hand over his suit which rippled oddly.

"No, there are too many. It was impossible to pinpoint." Anoxa frowned as she looked at him.

"What's going on with your suit?"

"I don't know. It's like all the force energy is messing with it."

 _Power! So much power! If I could absorb it I could do anything!_

"It might be best if I wait with the ship…"

 _What? No! We could be gods!_

"Yeah, definitely best if I wait on the ship."

 _This! This right here is why I give you nightmares! This crap right here!_

"You going to be okay?" Anoxa asked and rubbed his arm.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll try to see if I can get the ship working while you guys are gone."

"Then let's do this," Luca said and fixed her mask and pulled her hood back up. "Let's see what trouble we can get into."

"I think the answer to that always has been and always will be: a lot." Seraphina told her. "It would be better not to test our luck."

"At this point we've had nothing but bad luck." Luca hopped up onto a rock as they continued to walk away from the ship and down the plains. Despite her small size, she was the fastest one there so she was a bit ahead of them. "We are due for some good luck." She stopped and looked back at the others. "Right?"

All eyes rested on the glowing figure behind her, transfixed by what could only be described as an ethereal form of an angel infused with the power of the force. "What? What is that loo-" Luca turned and stared at the angel behind her. "Oh…right…um…hello there! Hi!" She gave the being a small wave. "Um…I'm going out on a limb here but are you the person or being or god that brought us here?"

"Yes." The female being said, her voice sounding like a song which was both beautiful and haunting.

"Good! Excellent! So, you brought us here so we could get the saber we're looking for?"

"No."

"No? Why no? No isn't good."

"What did you bring us here for?" Anoxa asked, her hand resting on her blaster just in case a fight was about to break out.

"To be tested." She waved her hand and just like that everyone's world went dark.

Luca immediately swung her fist where the angel had been but it passed through nothing. She looked around and continued to see nothing but darkness. "Anoxa! Vic! Seraphina!" She called out to the silence. Raising her fist she summoned her fire to light the darkness, but even though she could feel the heat of the flames she saw nothing until a blinding light nearly blinded her, causing her to have to shield her eyes with her hand.

"You embody the spirit of the lightside," the angel told her.

"I…what? No, I mean…that's not me. I've done so much bad. There's no way I could possibly embody the light," Luca said as she slowly dropped her hand from her face to stare at the angel.

"I know what you've done," the angel replied. "Now tell me, what have you done? Why have you come here?"

"To fix a mistake we made. We were kids and we unleashed a Sith Lord into this world, an enemy more powerful than anyone could imagine. We are responsible for so many deaths because of our actions… I'm here to fix a mistake. I'm here because we caused this, and we want to put an end to it."

"You wish to gain power to defeat Infernis?"

"Yes," Luca said as she stood before the angel, absolute in her resolve.

"You are familiar with the saying that power corrupts. What will keep you from being corrupted by this power? What reassurance do we have that giving you what you seek will not corrupt you?"

Luca swallowed hard and tried to think of an answer. She knew how to lie, how to play people using her body and her words. In any other circumstance she would lie, but she didn't think that lying would help in this scenario, and honestly she was tired of lying. "You don't," she whispered softly and shook her head. "There is nothing I can say that could convince you otherwise." She brought her head up suddenly as her eyes seemed to light up with a thought. "But you are not trusting me, at least not me alone. A person might be corrupted by power, but I'm not alone. I have friends, friends whom I trust, friends who know me and who wouldn't let me fall. We are each other's guides, when one of us falls shorts, the others are there to pick them up. Kobak fell, and Anoxa put a symbiote on him. He suffered with it, but we helped him to fight through the pain. When Vic was threatened by the dark side, we called him out on it and offered to help. After our defeat at Isis, Seraphina put herself through hell to train to become stronger. She asked us for help and we pushed ourselves to make each other better. When I left the Jedi to be with the Sith, my friends risked their lives to come search for me. When Anoxa left the Jedi, believing me to be dead, our master brought her back, but she only came back because she knew her friends needed her. So when we get that blade, when we falter, there will be others to help us, to guide us and to lift us up. That is what we do, that is who we are. So you can't trust me with that power, but you can trust all of us!"

Luca was breathing hard by the time she practically shouted all that to the angel. Her eyes scanned the angel's face for any sign that her words had any affect on her, instead the angel simply disappeared.

In the darkness Anoxa tried to reach out, using the force to sense for others, but all she sense was herself. When the peaceful route didn't do anything she reached for her blaster and fired into the darkness to no avail. "Damn it-"

"Anoxa?"

Anoxa turned around, surprised to suddenly see Vic in her darkness. "Vic! Are you okay? Can you see anything?"

"No, just you and darkness," he frowned and walked toward her. "And now that." He pointed toward the darkness as a figure bathed in darkness and red light emerged. The figure wore a dark cloak and white mask, typical of ancient siths and bore two red sabers.

The Jedi reached for their weapons on instinct, but the figure stopped them with his soft voice.

"You both bare darkness in your hearts."

Anoxa's blaster was pointed directly at him until Vic reached out and made her lower it. "He's like the angel, except his presence is all darkness…"

"You bare the weight of darkness on your souls. One who gives into the darkness and struggles to stay in the light as the promise of power whispers in his mind. The other who forsake her duty to her friends and her order by abandoning them in her time of need. This darkness is made by you, forced upon yourself." The figure moved toward them and examined them. "You seek power. Why?"

"To defeat an evil," Vic said. "To eradicate his existence."

"We only want to bring peace to the galaxy," Anoxa said and then smirked to herself. "Which sounds ridiculously impossible now that I say it out loud."

The figure turned its head to look at them both. "And why do you think we can trust you with this power?"

"I don't know," Anoxa said slowly as she looked to Vic. "We've come all this way, sacrificed so much to stop him. Doesn't that count for something?"

"We have lost friends and ourselves," Vic said, his hand coming over the nub where his other hand used to be. "All along this way, we have suffered. We made a mistake, we know that. We have fallen and we have gotten up time after time. You brought us here, right? Then you must know why we're here and what we are going to use the blade for; and you must know we not abuse that power."

The Sith disappeared, leaving the two of them in the darkness.

Seraphina sat alone meditating in the silence. She was waiting for something to happen, so when she felt the light hit her face she opened her eyes, surprised to see a dark Sith figure as well as the angel standing side by side. "You who walks in the light and yet never fully gives herself to it. Your loyalty only lies with your friends and knowledge, and so you walk the path of light and darkness," the figures said in unison. "Tell us why you want power."

"I don't want power," she told them and stood up, fixing her robes before she faced them. "I want the blade."

"The blade is power in itself."

"Oh…then yes, I do want power," she nodded.

"Why?"

"I was the one who released Infernis. I was the one who let my friends down, who got them hurt, and who caused so much death. All of that is on me. I cannot close my eyes without thinking about all the names of those who have been lost. I read them when I am alone. I read the reports of all who have been lost, of all that has been sacrificed and I know that is on my hands. I need this, to right a wrong."

"Why should we trust you?"

"Because I am a Jedi."

"We have trusted the Jedi before and that is why you are here now."

"Wait…you're saying that Infernis was once a Jedi?" Seraphina shook her head in disbelief.

"How- What happened to him?"

"Power corrupts. He was corrupted by the power the same as you can be. Being a Jedi does not make you any less susceptible to the desires of men."

"I think you need to tell us the story of Infernis, and how you know him," Luca said as she was now standing beside Seraphina. On the other side of her stood Vic and Anoxa as they were all together now staring at the two figures.

"We are the embodiments of the light and darkness of the force," the figures continued to speak in unison. Three phantom figures appeared beside them, different races and genders, but each glowing the same as them. The phantoms were not there of course, but rather representations of others and each possessed their own light.

"And those are earth, wind, and water-" Seraphina guessed correctly, to which the figures nodded.

"And that leaves only one guess as to what Infernis is," Luca whispered.

"The embodiment of fire within the force," Vic said with a frown.

"But how did he become this? Was he always the embodiment?" Anoxa asked.

"No, he became the embodiment when the previous holder of fire died," the figures said. "Long ago our kind traveled the worlds, but despite our power we had a strict rule not to interfere in the realms of this world. At that time we were believed to be myth, but the Jedi of old came to us on the even of some cataclysmic event which would destroy the world. Among the Jedi was the one now called Infernis. His true name has been lost to time, but his rage still burns on. At the time he came with others who begged for our aid. The five of us were adamant not to be involved, but Fire, she desired to help. She took pieces of us to craft the blades you search for, blades of power that because they are made of us are capable of sealing us away."

"That is what happened to Infernis!" Seraphina blurted out, causing the spirits to stop and stare at her. "Sorry…continue."

"Fire helped them, and in the end she sacrificed herself to save the world. In her death, her power was passed on and it was Infernis who received it. The power changed him and he was no longer the man who came searching for our aid. Years passed by before Jedi once more came to us for help. At the time we had all four blades in our possession, and while we denied them help initially, we felt that Infernis was our responsibility and so we gave them the blades to seal him away."

"So, Fire wasn't initially evil?" Luca inquired, now lost in thought.

"No, she was not. She wanted to help more than any others."

"If you have the same power as him, why can't you stop him?" Anoxa asked now.

"We do not leave this place, because the last time the two of us left, the world almost ended. So we stay here rather than doom the world. As for the others, we do not fight each other. We cannot kill our own kind and so the best we can do is hope that he is sealed away."

"But you said that when Fire died, her power went to Infernis; but when Infernis dies he comes back to life. How is that possible?" Luca stepped forward now, determined to find out all that she could.

"The process which he uses he created himself; but there is an anchor which keeps his spirit returning to that place. If you wish to kill him for good, you must destroy that anchor; however, there will be a cost with that."

"And what cost might that be?" Luca asked again.

"If he dies, his power will pass on randomly to whomever is near him."

"So…if we kill him, one of us will become fire." Luca glanced at the others. "But just because we become fire, it doesn't necessarily mean that we will turn evil."

"No, but it doesn't guarantee that we won't either," Vic told her. "So even if we win, we lose."

"Not if the person who gets the power is willing to be sealed away," Seraphina finally said. All eyes turned to her. "If we aren't able to seal him away, then we kill him and when the time comes I will try to take on the power and be sealed away."

"Seraphina you can't!" Vic exclaimed and took her hand.

"I am the one who set him free. If someone has to be sealed, it should be me," she whispered and reached up to caress his cheek.

"The spirit cannot be bound intentionally. There is no guarantee it will go to you," the figures told her.

"Then I will find away," she assured them.

For a moment there was silence as they all took in what they had just learned. "We need the blade to defeat him," Luca said to break the silence.

"You desire power to-"

"Do you have any other way of stopping him?" she snapped. She was tired of their games. They had brought them there for one reason and one reason only, to give them the blade. The rest of this was just for show. "If so, I'd like to hear it."

The figures were silent and this time it was light that spoke alone. "There is no other way."

The next instant the four of them were floating over the rivers of lava and water with a solitary platform several feet below them. To everyone but Vic it looked like a normal platform, but to him it was blank as if a circle had been cut out of the force itself. "Be careful," he told them.

"Down below us there is nothing."

"Nothing as in you can't see, or nothing as in no force?" Anoxa asked in clarification.

"No force."

"Then that has to be where the blade is!" Luca held out her hand, trying to use the force pull the platform to them, and yet nothing happened. As soon as she felt the force connect with it, it was as if the force itself was shattered. "That's…that's not a good feeling."

"You are our best hope to seal him away," the dark one said as it appeared before them. "Tell me, will you sacrifice everything you hold dear to stop him?"

"Yes," Seraphina said quickly. "Take my knowledge, take everything from me, I don't care. I will do whatever it takes to right this." She reached over and squeezed Vic's hand. He smiled sadly at her and brought her to him as he kissed her.

"Take it all from me too," he whispered.

The Sith looked to the two Zeltron's who held each other's hands firmly. "No," Anoxa said and shook her head.

Luca was silent, head bowed in contemplation.

"No?" The Sith stared at her and disappeared. "It seems two of you are still not committed."

"What? How can you say no?" Seraphina said as she looked to her. "We have already sacrificed so much."

"I know. I don't mind sacrificing all of me, but I can't sacrifice the people I care about." She looked down to Luca and then to the others. "I mean, that's not sacrificing at that point. If they want they can take it all from me, but not you guys."

"We are okay, Anoxa," Vic told her. "We know what we signed up for. If we have to die to defeat him. So be it."

Anoxa sighed and growled in frustration. "Fine! You want everything I care about? Take it!"

The Sith appeared once more and then looked to Luca. "And you?"

"Take it all from me," Luca said slowly. At first she was going to say what the others had. To sacrifice everything for the greater good, that was the noble thing to do; but she couldn't. She couldn't because she felt the Sith peer into her heart, it would know if she lied so for once she was going to be honest. "Take everything I am. Take my power. Take my fury. Take my love." She raised her head and her eyes burned as she stared at the Sith. "But you will not take _her_. You will not take them! I have sacrificed too much to keep them safe. I have done too much to keep them safe. I am being selfish, I know. I can't have them and everything, but you can do what you want to me. Take all you want from me, but I will not give you them. I will not give you the people I care about, nor will I ever say that I will. I love her! Do you hear me! Every breath I breathe is for her and I want to marry her and grow old with her. I refuse to lose her!"

With Luca's last word she found herself once more in the darkness as she stood before the angel and Sith who slowly began to merge together to form one figure. White wings erupted from black robes and a shimmering face formed where the mask was. "Great, I've killed us all," she whispered and stared at the being.

"That is the answer we were looking for," the voice of the entity now said. In its hand a silver handled lightsaber appeared. It was the most painfully plain hilt Luca had ever seen. It flew through the air and hovered before her. "Someone who can give up everything has nothing to lose. Nothing to ground them. Nothing to keep them true to themselves."

Luca slowly reached out and touched the handle. The instant her flesh made contact with it her entire body went rigid. Contact with the hilt instantly severed her connection to the force which was like losing all her senses and her limbs at once. The weight of the universe was gone. The protection and clarity of it was simply no longer there leaving her body feeling as if it was drifting in a void. Her hands trembled with phantom pains, as if every bone in her hands had been shattered over and over again. Wounds that had long since healed ached and burned, the force which kept her going was gone and she was standing on her own power for once; and everything hurt. With a shaking hand she activated the blade, seeing a shimmering silver light erupt from it. As it did, she saw nothing but darkness around her as the blade cut off the planet's connection to the force. Realizing she was standing on nothing, she quickly deactivated the blade once more.

She was so lost in the feeling of what she was experiencing she didn't even realize the others were already there. Anoxa moved toward her, her hand resting on Luca. She was taken back by Luca's words, but before she could process that her eyes fell on what was in Luca's hand. "Luca is that-"

"Wait, Luca? Where is she?" Vic asked, stopping Anoxa mid question as he looked around for her.

"I'm…right here," Luca said and waved at him. He turned toward her voice and frowned.

"I can't see you."

"The child is ripped from the force due to the nature of the lightsaber," the being told them. "Your kind cannot see her. She is-"

"Hey! Stop that! Who is poking me!?" Vic shouted as Luca moved near him and poked him. She smiled despite the pain she was feeling. She was not going to use this power responsibly.

"Luca is that really it?" Anoxa reached to see it, but as soon as her hand came close to Luca she felt the echoing loss of the force filling her. Quickly she pulled back, putting space between her and her friend as she held her hand to her chest. "What was that?"

"That is the loss of the force," the beings explained once more.

"It's horrible!"

Everyone moved away from Luca, with Seraphina grabbing Vic and pulling him away as well. "There is another blade we're looking for," Luca said, now somber as she stared at the new saber. "You don't happen to know where that one is, do you?"

The being held out its hand as a golden hilt appeared. It was carved with unique designs and just the hilt itself seemed to blind Vic who could do nothing to shield his gaze from the burning light. The being activated it, revealing that the blade was golden as well and it radiated the pure power of the force outward. The blade floated in the air toward him and as soon as he took it he felt a rush of pure force energy and just like that he was able to see where Luca was. The light from the blade itself was unlike anything Vic had ever experienced. He had to force himself to see past it, or else it would consume all that he was. He deactivated the blade and sheathed it quickly before he rubbed his eyes through the cloth covering them.

"You have the only weapons we possess capable of sealing him away. With that, you also have the knowledge to do so. As long as the four blades are pointed at a single enemy, they will activate and seal them away in a sphere of energy."

"Thank you," Anoxa said and offered them a small bow.

"Is there any other assistance that you can provide us? Such as healing those who are injured, or offering any other powers that we can use?" Luca asked, knowing it was a long shot but figuring that she might as well press her luck as much as she could.

"We will not interfere in this world again. You have all that we can offer. Farewell and good luck."

Luca opened her eyes and groaned as she reached her hand up to touch her head which was throbbing with pain. It felt like her brain was trying to push out the front of her skull. As her hand brushed her face she realized her nails were longer than they should have been. Shifting a bit more her hair pulled inside her suit and she hissed in pain. Looking down at her body she realized she was still in her space suit and was still on the ship with Vic and Anoxa right beside her. Luca moved her other hand and saw that she still had the lightsaber in her hand. Her eyes scanned Anoxa, noticing that her hair was longer as well and Vic's hair was shaggier and he was now sporting a long beard. What the hell happened to them?

Luca struggled to stand, watching as the other two began to wake up as well. Vic got up and rubbed his beard, shaking his head as if trying to knock the cobwebs from his mind. "Everything feels off," he muttered.

"I feel gross," Anoxa said as she sat up and hugged herself.

Luca walked over to one of the computers and brought up some information. "No way…"

"Guys? Are you okay?" Seraphina called from the pilot's seat.

"Yeah, we're fine. Do you see the date?" Luca responded.

"Yeah, but that can't be right," she replied.

"What does it say?" Anoxa asked as she and Vic began to stand.

"It says we've missed a year…" Luca told them. They exchanged glances at each other's appearance, despite the hair growth none of them showed signs of being unconscious for a year. Their muscles hadn't atrophied and none of them felt hungry. "Shower, shave, haircut and then we'll figure this out."


	10. Chapter 10

They all agreed on that part and after everyone had cleaned up they met back in the central area. While everyone had mostly returned to their normal appearance, Vic kept the beard and continued to stroke it as he pondered everything.

"Why?" Seraphina asked as she looked at his beard.

He shrugged and smirked. "Makes me feel more like a Jedi."

"Vic, do you still have your blade?" Luca asked. He nodded and reached into his cloak and pulled it out. "So mine takes away the force and yours radiates it. I want to test out the limits of these but before I do, Kobak hold out your hand."

"What? Why?"

"Your symbiote was affected by the force on the planet. If I activate this blade, it expands its power outward which could have an affect on you."

Kobak looked to Anoxa who nodded slowly. Taking a deep breath, Kobak stretched his hand out toward Luca who in turn held her hilt out toward him. As soon as he got within the bubble of her negation field, the symbiote began to peel away from his hand, revealing the pale green skin beneath it but also causing Kobak tremendous pain. He quickly pulled his hand back and held it to his chest as the symbiote moved back up over his hand.

 _That felt like it was killing me! Don't you ever do that again!_

"Okay…so now we know that this is bad for you. So I won't be activating it on the ship. I think it would be best for me to keep this locked in my room for now."

"But what is our plan going forward?" Anoxa asked. "I mean, it's been a year. Everything could have changed by now."

"The only thing we know that hasn't changed is that Infernis still has to be out there," Vic said as he continued to stroke his beard.

"True, but he could have won by now. The Jedi could be gone," she told him.

"We need to figure out what is going on in this word now. We need to know what has happened," Seraphina mused.

"Zeltros." Anoxa looked to all of them. "We can go to Zeltros. They have withstood every invasion that has ever come to them. If Infernis has taken over there is a good chance they are still safe."

"Then we'll go there," Luca nodded. "I'll use the command system to send a coded message to the Jedi. Hopefully if they are still around we can find their location as well."

"Do you think you could fold space and get us to Zeltros?" Kobak suggested as Vic took the pilot's seat and he sat beside him as copilot.

"I could, but it's been a year. Last time I folded space to Zeltros I had a clear picture of it from Anoxa's mind, and even then it was foolish because things could have changed since the last time she saw Zeltros. Without knowing what has changed in this year, I'd rather do it the old fashioned way. Otherwise for all I know I could fold space and we'd end up in a starship or some black hole."

"Right…let's not do that."

"Agreed," he smirked.

For the next week they flew through space toward Zeltros. In that time the group spent it mainly preparing for what was to come. Seraphina and Vic spent time alone, talking about the future, a future they might never have.

"I don't want to lose you," he whispered softly to her as he held her in his arms.

"If it comes down to it, I want to make this right," she told him.

"I know, but Seraphina…you're my life. You're my world. Without you, I'm nothing."

She smiled at that and leaned up, lightly kissing his lips. "Without me, you are a Jedi. You are a good man and one of the best people I have ever had the pleasure to know."

"You're not entirely wrong about that." He smiled, but his grip on her tightened as he pulled her closer. "I don't want this to happen. I don't want to lose you."

"We might not have a choice, Vic."

"When the time comes, I will just have to make certain that we do. That we will do this right and seal him away that way we can continue on without having to make that sacrifice."

"It wouldn't be our first sacrifice." She moved her metal hand over his nub. "All of us have lost something."

"Luca still has all her limbs," he protested with a smirk.

"Yes, well that's Luca. I think what she's kept in limbs she's lost in innocence." Seraphina glanced at him and caressed his cheek, sighing as she rubbed his beard. "Is there really nothing I can do to talk you out of this?"

"If we survive this, I'll consider shaving."

"Then I guess I'll have to survive this, huh?"

"Looks that way," he grinned. She shook her head and pushed him back onto her bed only to have him grab her and pull him on top with a laugh.

"You really think that we could end this?" Anoxa asked, sitting in the copilot seat with a bowl of purple looking noodles which seemed to move around in the liquid as she slurped them up.

"I think that we are drawing close to the end game," Luca told her. She sat back in the pilot seat, tired but not wanting to sleep. She pulled her combat gloves off and stretched her hands before glancing back at her friend. "Do you think our masters are still alive?"

"I think it would take a small army to kill Toa Sen, and even then he would take them out before he died. Then there is Splyn'Ter, he trained you so he has to be pretty bad ass."

"He's tiny but fierce," Luca smirked.

"Reminds me of someone else I know." Anoxa glanced at her friend's side. "Do you have the saber?"

"Not right now. I'm trying to get accustomed to it. Losing the force like that is nearly paralyzing. I don't know why someone would ever use a lightsaber like that."

"Neither do I. It seems to weaken to the user. What is good about that?"

Luca shrugged. "I think that when my saber and Vic's saber are active they're going to cancel each other out though, which will make them both normal sabers; but we'll see. I want to do tests, figure out what they are capable of before we go to our final battle."

"The First Order." Anoxa smiled at the memory. "We should have gotten a tattoo with that on there."

"With all your work money, I'm sure we could afford it, Madame Anoxa," she grinned.

Anoxa laughed. "Oh please, like you wouldn't jump at the chance to be one of my girls."

"As long as I was your favorite, maybe. I think I'd make a better bouncer though."

"I have no doubt about that." Anoxa took Luca's hand and kissed it before they stared out into space again. "Luca...back there, when the spirits or whatever they were asked you if you'd sacrifice everything-"

Luca paused and looked away. "Sorry about all that. I don't know what came over me. I just...I started blurting things out. Whatever I felt was the right answer I-"

"Luca, did you mean it?"

Slowly Luca looked over to Anoxa, their eyes meeting and Luca found herself once more unable to lie. "Yes. Every word."

Anoxa didn't say anything to her, but she smiled, knowing that her friend needed that. She needed that smile. In her heart that, Anoxa felt something and she wasn't certain what it was. Luca's words had stirred something in her that she had never felt before. Her free hand came up to her chest while the other stayed firmly gripped to Luca's hand and she stared off into space and contemplated their future.

After the first week, a message came through in their system with coordinates for them to regroup to. "It's from the masters, at least I'm assuming."

"It's an old code," Vic mused. "But it checks out."

"They probably have to use the old code because we've been gone a year. We don't know the new ones," Seraphina explained. "We're a week away from Zeltros, but just three days from these coordinates."

"Do we think we can trust them?" Kobak asked the others.

 _If the Jedi have all succumbed to Infernis I say we kill them all and then take the sabers as a show of good faith to our new dark lord and master._

"I've got an idea," Anoxa said. "We can go to the coordinates. Vic, you've got the best ability to sense them. Before we land or open ourselves up to them, we'll search the ship with the force.

Make certain they are all still untainted by the dark side. Think you can do it?"

"Shouldn't be a problem."

"Then let's go see how the Jedi have fared." Luca said and input the coordinates. A few days later their ship dropped out of hyperspace by two severely damaged capital ships.

"Oh…this….this isn't good," Luca whispered.

"Vic? Sense anything?" Anoxa asked.

Vic pressed his hand to the wall of the ship and stretched his influence outward. He scanned every inch of the ship with the force before smiling. "Everything seems normal."

"Then I'll hail them." Luca pressed the button and a minute later Grand Master Skywalker's voice came through for them.

"We thought you were dead," were the first words out of his lips.

"Never count us out," Luca smirked. "We need a council with the masters immediately."

"Of course you do. I'll call them."

Their message was abruptly cut and they guided their ship into the docking bay. No sooner had they landed then they took note that the docking bay was rather vacant, not at all the bustling hub of activity that it had been before.

"Do you think everyone's just out on missions?" Kobak asked hopefully.

 _They're dead._

"Judging from the ship, well, we can hope," Seraphina whispered.

 _Super dead._

They ventured through familiar halls which were now empty, past rooms which had once been places of learning and how now been converted to chambers of healing for the wounded. Anoxa grabbed Luca's arm as she hid behind her small friend from all the medical droids. The others couldn't help but to smile despite the sad scene before them. Somethings never change, no matter how much everything else changed around them.

When they arrived at the Master's chamber, they quickly realized that these were not the same masters they had left. Their chamber of meditation and council had been turned into a battle room, and the masters now bore scars and wounds from battles they had waged for survival.

Eagerly the young knights searched for their masters. Toa Sen stood up when he saw his pupil. His right arm was missing now, replaced with a new mechanical one. He seemed momentarily relieved to see his pupil, but that lasted only a split second before he gave her only the slightest of approving nods that she was still alive.

Ezra sat in his spot and nodded to Seraphina. He had several new scars across his face, and

he seemed too weak to stand anymore. Still, he smiled at her return.

Splyn'Ter sat was well, hands on his cane, a crescent shaped scar over his right eye, leaving him blinded in that eye. His good eye, however, was trained on Luca. He smiled at her, not bothering to hide his relief and joy to see her. He bowed his head and stood as well, to honor their return.

The others were there as well, Skywalker, X2, and Solan. Each tired, each wounded, and yet each staring at them with fragments of hope in their eyes.

"You are truly alive," Splyn'ter said. "This is the best news we have heard in a very long time, and we are due for some good news. You owe me money Toa Sen."

"I told you my padawan wouldn't die that easily," he huffed.

"You also said she would likely be missing another limb."

"Yeah well…we'll talk about that later."

"What happened to you?" Solan asked as he stepped forward and examined them.

"We wanted to ask you guys the same thing," Seraphina said. "What has happened since we've been gone?"

"We have been fighting, all this time. We tried to take on Infernis. We tried to get the sabers that Luca told us about. This is the result of us trying that," Skywalker said as he took a seat and motioned to the other masters in the room. "So tell us, what happened to you."

Luca stepped forward. "It's hard to explain. We went in search of one of the legendary sabers and we found it. We found two actually."

"You did?" Skywalker said in shock.

Luca nodded. "We spoke with gods of sorts. Beings of pure light and dark, that explained to us what Infernis is and what he was. He was once a Jedi, but now he is the physical embodiment of the fire of the force. We walked among a paradise comprised of nothing but the force. The sabers were used by Jedi of the past to seal him away and then lost to the ages."

Skywalker's eyes narrowed as he examined them. "That cannot be true. Something of that importance we would know about, beings like that can't exist."

Luca glanced back at Kobak. "Kobak, go back to mine and Anoxa's room. I don't think its effects go that far."

Kobak wanted to protest, but he saw what Luca held in her hand and he nodded, understanding her plan. He hurried out and Luca counted down from ten until she thought he was far enough away. "While you guys suffered, we walked in a paradise, but we didn't know we were gone that long. We woke up in our ship, having seemingly slept for a year."

"So you're saying you had a dream about these gods of yours?" Skywalker asked.

"Perhaps."

"Then how can you trust what these dreams told you?"

"Because of this." Luca activated her blade and stared at the shimmering silver blade. She also watched as every master nearly collapsed as their connection to the force was abruptly severed, leaving them pale and weakened. Just as quickly as she activated she deactivated it and placed it back onto her belt. She did not want to hurt her masters, but she also wanted them to believe her. This was the easiest way to get her point across.

"What was that!?" X2 demanded.

"It is a lightsaber used to negate the force. It has a counterpart which Vic holds. One that radiates the force. They are two parts of what we need to seal Infernis away." Luca bit her lip and thought about telling them that Infernis's power could transfer, but a quick glance at Seraphina who shook her head encouraged her to keep that part private. The master's were desperate. They had seen horrors in the last year and they wore haunted expressions on their faces. They might see that power as a way out.

"You really believe that you have a way to beat him?" Solan asked them.

"Yes, we do," Luca confirmed.

"We tried, this year to make an alliance with the Empire and the Sith, as was suggested," Skywalker said. "It did not end well."

Luca's eyes widened and heart stopped as she realized what he was saying. That was her advice. Was it her words that made this happen? "What…what went wrong?"

"Emperor Roan Fel was betrayed. Infernis now controls the Empire. The only allies we have left are the Sith. The Empire's forces wiped out the majority of our fleet. We are now fully on survival mode. Every action we take is not to ensure our survival, it has been months since we made an aggressive move against Infernis."

The group looked to one another. The Jedi were on their last legs of this fight. "Masters… we…we can do this alone," Seraphina said, prompting all the masters to look at them with shocked expressions.

"Yes, we made this mess. We want to fix it," Anoxa said. "So, we can do this, no matter what."

"You will need help," Solan said. "You cannot hope to do anything by yourselves. If you truly believe you can defeat him, then we will put together whatever offensive we can."

"What we're saying is, we don't want anymore to die because of us," Vic finally said.

"We have caused enough death," Luca added.

Splyn'ter got up and shook his head. "Nonsense. You think far too much of yourselves."

"Master?" Luca said in shock.

"If it hadn't been you, it would have been someone else. A monster like Infernis does not stay sealed forever. These deaths are not on you, they are on us. They are on the Jedi as a whole. We sealed him away, and yet we lost the key and the blades to keep him in check. We are to blame for this as much as you are."

"We took children and expected them to be warriors and knights. We robbed you of your lives. Everything you have done, has been for the order," Solon explained to them. "You are still all so young and yet you have seen and done more than probably any other knights your age have done before. All the good and all the bad you have done are on us, your masters."

"We should have taught you more," Ezra sighed. "But the time for that is far past."

"We should have trained you better," Toa Sen added. "But you've proven that you are fast learners and that what you do works better than anything we have done. Look at all we have lost to try to reclaim two blades, and yet your group somehow is always in the right place at the right time. The force is guiding you, and it seems as if even the truest aspects of the force have put their faith in you."

"In return, we should do the same," X2 nodded.

"What everyone is saying, is that you are still Jedi. You are still our brothers and sisters. We do not abandon our own. We will put what we have in your hands and we will assist you in anyway that we can. In the end, let us hope that the force is in our favor," Skywalker told them with a weary but hopeful smile. "In the meantime, we will be preparing our forces for a final assault on the dreadnaught. Until then, may the force be with you."

Their team went about preparing for their journey back to the planet where all of this began. Each one was somber and silent, their thoughts on the battle ahead. Luca and Vic spent time experimenting with their new sabers, figuring that when deactive and in close proximity they cancelled out each other's effects, whereas when they were both active they did the same thing. Whereas Luca's blade negated the force, Vic's saber amplified it, magnifying the effect of any power user. Only when they had gotten comfortable with their blades did they join the others. Finally they had gotten everything secured and the Secret Runner was ready for them, they all boarded the ship for what they feared might be the last time.

"So, we are going to set a trap and call him to us? Are you certain he will come?"

"He will," Luca assured Kobak. "I know him. Once he knows that we have the sabers he will come, and then it will be up to us to get rid of him once and for all."

"I think after this…I'm done," Vic said as he prepared their ship for the jump to hyperspace.

"Done with the Jedi. Just done."

No one said anything to that, as in their hearts they were all feeling the same way. All this war, all this loss, all of this and all they wanted to do was to go back to the simpler times when they were free from all of this. Upon landing on the planet, Luca began to set up the ship's communication device to reach Infernis while the others searched for a good spot to fight him. The coliseum area where he had originally been housed had been destroyed during their first fight. Anoxa headed down the path Shado Vao once walked so long ago. She came upon a room which looked to be a memorial to fallen Jedi, with large statues built to honor them.

She ran her hand across the stone and counted the paces it took to cross it. It was a wide area with a high ceiling, more than enough from for them to fight. This would do. Meeting back with the others, they joined each other back on the ship.

"I'm using the same channels I had when I was under him," Luca started and then smirked a bit as she and Anoxa shared the same perverted sense of humor. "You guys find a good spot for us?"

"Yeah, there's a good room where we can house him," Anoxa said.

"Then…let's do this." Luca started the call and waited for it to connect.

"Luca…maybe we should do this from the portable comm.," Anoxa whispered, but stopped when a dark image appeared before them. Infernis stood there in holographic form, his gaze burning into Luca.

"After all this time, you finally call," Infernis said, his voice booming through their ship.

"Miss me?" Luca asked, her voice calm and her eyes narrowed.

"Why did you call me? Are you that eager for death?"

"Not particularly, no; but I know you're searching for rare and unique sabers. As it stands, I have one. Thought you might be interested in coming to me to settle this once and for all, Infernis." Though she said this, her hands trembled lightly, not with fear, but with anticipation. She had spent a year studying him, the way he fights and moves. She knew him, and she knew that if he came, one way or another this battle would be the end.

"You could have been so powerful," he whispered. The air heated up around them as the hologram shattered, replaced by the real Infernis. Both of his doubled ended sabers were drawn and ignited, his blade thrust toward Luca, rage fueling his power as he aimed to strike her down first for her betrayal.

Everything seemed to slow for her as her body moved on its own and she sidestepped the attack, the blade passing right beside her cheek as her eyes locked on his. Behind her mask she smirked and drew her blade. "Looks like you did miss me." Two quick slashes, of her tonfa sliced into his flesh before she jumped back to dodge a flurry of blows. From his body, flames erupted outward, masking his body in a crimson cape of death, with that, fire licked at their flesh, burning their skin with every second.

Luca's hand rested on the negation saber, tucked into her sleeve out of view. She was tempted to activate it to dampen the flames, but Kobak was here with them. Doing so would only hurt him. She would have to wait for Vic to activate his saber as to negate the effect.

"This ends now children." Infernis lunged at Luca, the blades burning bright in his hands and his eyes full of bloodlust and murderous intent. His blades swung down all around her, but she seemed to dance before him, dodging every single one of his attacks. Her body disappeared, her eyes laughing at him as she teased him with every miss. The angrier he got, the faster his attacks became. Swinging his blade down where she should have been, he hit nothing but air. A curse left his lips and he raised his blade again only to have it fly from his hands.

He looked back to where Vic and Seraphina stood, his double bladed saber went straight to Vic's open hand. The young Jedi did not wait as he activated it and slashed at Infernis, the plasma blade scraping across the flesh of the Sith who just grinned as it seemed to do nothing to him.

Realizing the fire blade did nothing, Vic's mind went back to Luca's report. She wasn't using fire against Infernis either as he might be able to negate the effects. Seeing no point in keeping the blade, Vic shattered it in his hand. Though he could not see through traditional means, Vic was doing his best to pierce through the flames with his sight to see if he could sense the other blades on Infernis; but the flames were too bright even to him. Infernis moved to him, figuring that he would end Luca's friends first and then go for the pink nuisance when there was no one left to fight with her. As he stepped toward them, Seraphina stepped to him as well.

Seraphina's blades activated as she stood protectively in front of Vic, knowing all too well that Vic was not a melee combatant. If Infernis got in close enough, he would cut Vic in half. Infernis slashed, but Seraphina countered. She couldn't dodge like Luca, but she knew how to defend and counter. Infernis slashed at her, but her defenses were impenetrable. She wasn't just fighting for herself. If she lost an arm or a leg, she would deal and move on. This time, she was fighting for Vic. She was fighting for the love of her life. She wasn't going to let Infernis get close to him if she could help it. While she wasn't particularly skilled in the force, she knew enough that she could bind it to her will. Raising her hand, Seraphina put all she had into one concussive blast of the force which sent Infernis flying backward into their communications station. The station shattered beneath the impact, and the heat from his body seared the metal, liquefying it in his presence.

As Infernis stood a blinding light erupted from beside him. Though his flames had no effect on him, this light seared him, burning him from within. His gaze slowly turned to the radiant figure of Anoxa, who pulsated with the pure energy of the lightside. He raised his hand as fire collected as his fingertips, a pleased smile gracing his face as fire began to spread outward toward her.

"No!" Kobak reacted faster than any of them. The flames which had collected were stopped by an invisible force as Kobak stood his ground. His hands were outstretched toward Infernis and his voice seemed to echo with the combined might of him and his symbiote. "No more force!" His hands spread out in the air in a motion similar to ripping something in half as he quite literally managed to rip apart Infernis's connection to the force. It was a technique the symbiote had taught him, a technique mastered in secret and prepared for a moment such as this. With the symbiote's help he was able to see the force and the webs which connected it to an individual. Using his raw power, he shattered those connections to Infernis. It was temporary, unfortunately, and he couldn't combat the flames which were already erupting from him, but he had stopped Infernis from drawing anymore from him.

Though Infernis was momentarily stunned by the young upstarts attack, his attention went back to the light power which assaulted him. Sabers and fists he could dodge, block, or dismember, but this was pure, primal force power and it burned the very heart of him. The close her got to her, the more it burned into him. He raised his free hand to shield himself from the light as Anoxa put everything she had into burning him. "You believe you are fire, but you will burn! You will not survive this!" Anoxa shouted, her eyes glowing the power of the force itself. She pushed her hands toward him, focusing her light onto his frame.

"Girl, I have survived far more than you can throw at me," he whispered. From the light, his double blades slashed through her, searing into her body and ending the focus which she used to maintain the power. Her sides and chest were sliced into deeply, her back pressed against the wall of the ship as she struggled to stand. Infernis pressed on and as she moved her hand to deflect his blade, he simply knocked her tanto blade out of her hand and sent it flying to the ground. Another slash hit her leg, nearly crippling her. Even as she fell she reached for Shepard's blaster and fired at him, the shot blasting through his side, forcing him to take a step back. With a growl of fury he raised his blade for a final stroke.

"This fight is between us Infernis!" Luca shouted from behind him. She revealed the negation saber, knowing that would draw him to her and away from Anoxa. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Vic already positioning himself in such a way that he could move and help her; for now she had to keep Infernis's attention drawn on her. Try as she might, she was no healer. She couldn't help Anoxa the way she needed it most. No, she was a fighter and a killer, and she would do what she did best. "You want this, don't you? Well come on then! Show me what power you have!"

"Where did you get that?" Infernis reached through the flames and drew a second saber, this one igniting with a yellow blade which sparked and crackled with power.

"Come closer and I'll tell you," Luca smirked. She kept the negation saber in her right hand, her tonfa in her left ready to block if needed.

"Oh, I shall." Infernis dashed toward her, a blur of fire and slashing blades. As Luca parried and dodged his attacks, the others regrouped. Kobak and Seraphina moved into defensive positions around Vic and Anoxa, the later of which was slumped down, badly wounded. Anoxa struggled to try to assist Vic, as she had mastered the art of healing, but she was in too much pain to focus on helping him.

"It's okay, I've got you," he whispered and pressed his hand to her. Her wounds began to close up, leaving nothing but burning scars on her flesh. Her body still hurt and her insides still felt as if they were on fire, but she could stand and more importantly she could fight. Vic started to help her up when she heard Luca scream.

Quickly she stood up and looked past the others as a bolt of lightning seemed to stream from the tip of Infernis's blade and slam into Luca's chest. The energy arched through Luca, lightning literally seeped into every pore of her body, paralyzing her every muscle and restricting her every movement. She had dodged every strike, but she had never expected the blade to be able to project energy from it. She had been caught off guard and now she was unable to move. She collapsed to her knees, her eyes able to move just enough to see the others racing toward her.

As Infernis kept the lightning arching into her, he raised his other hand and slashed repeatedly at her body, leaving gouging marks across her torso. "You should have stayed with me, little one," he told her and struck down at her right hand which held the blade he desired, intending to sever her arm with one clean stroke. As his plasma blade slammed downward, it connected with living metal and was instantly shorted out by the symbiote's skin. Kobak stood between Infernis and Luca, arm outstretched to take the impact. His free hand stretched toward Infernis's head as he let his mind into the monster's. "Give me the blade," he commanded, using every ounce of force power he possessed to try and control him. Though he demanded the blade, in Infernis's mind he saw a Sith, asking for a tool to strike his friend's down with.

Though Infernis seemed to smile, Kobak realized it was because there was only darkness in the Sith's mind and he had no hope of controlling it. "Foolish little Jedi. " Infernis back handed Kobak, sending him crashing into the wall of the ship, denting it under his weight. He then moved to strike Luca, down, but where she had been only a puddle of her blood now remained.

"You want to see power, Infernis? I'll show you power." Infernis turned as he heard a lightsaber deactive. He watched as Seraphina dropped one of her blades and caught the negation saber in her free hand and for the first time since he had seen her fight, he saw Luca put her lightsaber into her right hand. The dark Sith's eyes widened as Luca's eyes met his and glowed with the power of the force to back her. From her, he felt the same bloodlust he had sensed when he offered to train her, only know instead of it being wild and untamed he felt it cut through him like a blade. Flames licked at her body, but instead of the red he was accustomed to they burned like a blue sun. He readied his blade to defend against her, but before he could even act she had disappeared.

Three slashes appeared on the Sith's chest and Luca now stood behind him, right beside Anoxa who already had a hand on her friend's cheek, her lips lightly pressing to Luca's flesh to allow her essence to move through Luca. Infernis coughed up blood and held his chest as he turned and watched as Luca's wounds disappeared completely from her body and she took an aggressive stance in front of her friend. "This is real power, Infernis," Luca told him. She smirked beneath her mask and readied herself for another assault until she felt Anoxa's hand on hers.

"Look at him," Anoxa whispered. "You hit all his vitals with those attacks. One more assault and he will die."

Luca nodded, realizing what her friend was saying. If they killed him, he would just come back again and fight them again. No, they had to seal him away. Now was the time to end this. Luca glanced to Seraphina who did just as the spirits of the force had instructed. Turning the blade in such a way that a beam of pure light shot from its hilt and slammed into Infernis. In that instant, all the force in their area was cut, and Kobak screamed in pain as the symbiote writhed in agony. It was no more than a second, but Kobak felt as if he died a thousand deaths in that one moment. The impact was fruitful, however, as it resulted in the flames dispersing, and the already weakened Infernis staggered from the blast.

Vic, who had been biding his time during this moment, finally saw what he had been looking for. The force saber floated out from beneath his coat and activated, bathing the ship in the light of the radiant force, stabilizing Kobak and enhancing all those who bathed in its light. Flexing his hand outward, Vic pulled the frost saber from Infernis's robes and straight into his hand. He realized in doing this just what would happen, but he was prepared for it, as much as he could be.

Infernis's rage consumed him, the pain and humiliation he was enduring drew him to near madness. Every time he crippled one of them, another moved to protect them and heal them. Every time he countered one, another moved to counter him. Each of them was so weak, and yet together they were infuriatingly strong!

"Figured it out yet, Infernis?" Luca asked him. His gaze turned toward her and in his eyes all she saw was hatred which burned unlike anything she had seen before.

"Together we possess true power. Focus on what matters to you most. Focus on anger and you will lose what matters to you the most," Vic finished for her. Inferis roared and the ship shook as the full extent of his power was unleashed upon it. It seemed to break apart under the weight of his might and like darkness itself he descended upon Vic. His blades slashed through the young man, who stood there, prepared for his blows and ready to take them. Though Infernis's blade struck his body, slicing through flesh and bone and piercing vital organs, Vic focused on the force and numbed his body to it. Instead, he connected his mind with that of his friends even as his blood spattered the ground and wall. One word seared their minds and with it, Infernis's fate was sealed.

 _Now._

With that command everything seemed to happen in an instant as if time itself slowed for them. Kobak lay on the ground, but with that command he threw his hand outward as a bolt of pure corruption slammed into Infernis's back. It didn't seem to hurt him, but it wasn't intended to, only to stun him.

Anoxa dropped her weapons and held her hand out while Seraphina was activating her saber

once more. Luca pushed her body to its breaking point as she disappeared from where she stood and appeared beside Vic, ducking beneath Infernis's saber to grab the frost saber which hung in the air before him.

Vic used the force to turn his force saber into its true form and in that split second the air around Infernis's lightning saber rippled and the saber was gone, appearing in Anoxa's outstretched hand. All four of them activated their blades at once as their beams shot outward and pierced Infernis's flesh. Together they swirled around him, forming an enormous purple barrier of pure force energy which was his prison before and now was again. From this orb, a shimmering spot appeared before them and a smaller orb was pulled from it and landed at their feet.

All eyes moved to Seraphina who quickly held up her hands. "I'm not touching it."


	11. Chapter 11

"All too easy," Vic laughed, coughing up blood as he collapsed. "Now can someone please heal me?"

Kobak quickly moved to him and sat beside him while Anoxa moved as well, the two of them working together to heal their friend. Seraphina and Luca looked around their destroyed ship.

"This wasn't where he was supposed to end up," she sighed and eyed the key to his cell.

"No, it wasn't, but I think this is a good place for now. The Secret Runner's final mission." Luca picked up the orb and stared at.

"What should we do with it?"

"I've got an idea." Luca closed her eyes and pushed her mind outward. _Are you god's listening? I know you say you won't interfere, but can you keep the key safe for us? If left here, someone might release him again. Where as if it's with you, no one will ever get to it._

For a moment Luca didn't get a response and she thought she might be crazy to think of this, but then she received a single response. _Yes._

"Right then. We can leave the key with the gods on their planet. That way no one can get to it."

They all seemed to nod in agreement. "We aren't getting anywhere on this ship now," Vic sighed. "We had better contact the masters to let them know." He stopped and then smiled at them. "We defeated Infernis."

Everyone was so full of adrenaline that it hadn't really hit them yet, but with those words they all looked to the sphere and one by one they began to smile. "I avenged you master," Kobak said with a large smile.

"We righted what we did." Luca hugged Seraphina who was smiling now as well.

"We actually did it!" Anoxa said as she slumped down and laughed. "We were awesome!"

"Hell yeah we were! We're the First! No one can beat us." Luca laughed with her and soon everyone was laughing as they felt a tremendous weight had been lifted off of them and for the first time in a long time the future seemed just a bit brighter.

For a moment they rested and recovered before contacting the Jedi and explaining that they had managed to do the impossible. "He is really sealed?" Grand Master Skywalker asked in shock.

"He is," Seraphina confirmed with a smile.

"We will be there shortly to get you, that way you can accompany us on our final assault of the dreadnaught."

Once communications were cut, they were all left with a big decision. "The sabers," Vic said as he stared at them. "What do we do with them?"

"They're too powerful to leave here, to trust with anyone," Anoxa confirmed.

"And then there's the seal to Infernis," Seraphina chimed in. "There's no where in the galaxy that we can keep it completely safe."

"There might be one place that's safe," Luca said and closed her eyes. "Hey, Gods, can you hear me?" Of course they could, she didn't know why she always called to them like that, but it worked out well as she could feel the answer echo in her head.

 _Yes._

"We want to return the sabers to you when we're through with them."

There was a long silence before the answer came to her once more.

Luca opened her eyes. "The force gods say that they will take back their sabers."

"Then we'll leave the blades with them," Vic nodded. "After this final battle."

"But do we think it's wise to leave all the blades with them? What if this happens again and we need to seal him away?" Anoxa got up from her spot and examined the blade that she held. "I mean, the last time a Jedi actually got there and got these…."

"But we can't trust anyone with this kind of power, not even ourselves. This kind of power can still corrupt. It's not a good idea to leave any of them here really. All of them give extraordinary power, except for one." Seraphina looked down at the blade that she held.

"The force negation saber," Luca said. "No Jedi or Sith would want a blade that weakens them and steals their connection to the force."

"Then that's what we'll do. When this is over, we'll return all the blades to them except the force negation saber. That one we'll keep here." Anoxa nodded.

"Now the question is, where do we put the key until the battle is over?" Luca asked out loud as she stared at it.

"Actually, I thought about that. There's one place that only one of knows the location to and neither Sith nor Jedi would have any reason to go to," Vic said and looked to Luca. "We could put it with Shepard, in his grave, at least until we can retrieve it."

Luca took a deep breath and nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I think you're right. That's the best place, but I also don't think we should carry these sabers with us into battle."

"What?" Kobak asked with a shock. "But they're so powerful, they could turn the tide."

"And perhaps they can unseal Infernis. If we take them into battle, we risk losing them to the enemy."

Everyone looked at their blades and there was a brief moment of wistful thinking as they each desired the blades; but at the same time they knew that desire was the problem. They had them briefly and yet already the blades called to them. One by one they sat their blades by the orb.

"Then it's settled. Luca, clear your mind and focus on his grave. I'll put them there." Vic took her hand and focused on the image in her mind. The air around the items rippled and then just like that they were gone. "At least for now they will be safe."

"Yeah, from all of us," Anoxa smirked and all eyes turned to Seraphina who groaned.

Hours later they were aboard the flagship of the Jedi Order, standing before the masters in the war room as they explained what happened and were briefed on the attack plans against the dreadnaught. "In the midst of all of this, we can talk solace in one thing," Skywalker said with a small nod to the children. "For all our mistakes, we have raised fine young masters."

The group said nothing, they were stretched too thin as it was but they smiled warmly, realizing what praise it was that they were being given. "You are the very best of us," Master Solan told them. "Of that I have no doubt." They were just in the middle of their praise when alarms began to go off all among the fleet. All eyes went to the screens which showed a hole ripped through space as the dreadnaught appeared along with its own armada.

"We've been betrayed," Skywalker yelled and immediately issued commands to get into a battle formation.

They didn't have time to plan. Any plan they could muster would fall apart amongst the onslaught of ships and lasers which seemed to ignite the darkness of space with light. "The dreadnaught will tear us apart," Luca said as she ran to the viewing screen. "It has massive laser cannons that can pick our fleet apart."

"Then we have to get inside it. We have to-" Anoxa was cut short as the realization hit her. The Secret Runner was destroyed. What few fighters the fleet had were already in use and those that weren't were already being boarded by pilots.

"Luca, how clear is your memory of the ship?" Vic asked.

Luca froze, trying to recall it. "The parts that I was allowed on…pretty good, I think."

Vic nodded and took a deep breath. "Ready for one last fight?"

"You're going to teleport us there aren't you?" Seraphina asked him. "Can you do that? We haven't had much time to recover from the battle with Infernis. Wouldn't that put too much strain on you?"

"All too easy," he whispered and kissed her forehead. "Everyone gather around."

They gathered together and held hands, their minds clearing and their breathing slowed as Luca's memories began to enter their minds. Luca shared what she could remember of the control deck, the power core, and the resurrection chamber. "Those are the three places we have to hit," she whispered, not daring to speak too loudly to break their connection.

"Then…let's do this." There was a cold rush which washed over them, an uneasy feeling as if their stomachs were being folded into. For a second nothing seemed real to them as they had no sensation of touch, sight, sound, or anything else. They simply existed within nothingness. It was a terrifying feeling, reminiscent of death. But before the sensation could overcome them they were brought back to reality as all around them they heard shouting.

Seraphina opened her eyes and quickly drew her blades. They stood in a wide chamber which Luca quickly recognized was the training area. "Follow me!" Luca lead them, guiding them down hallways, the group of Jedi Padawans turned Knights and now Masters were a uniformed force to be reckoned with. Any enemy they encountered was struck down with brutal efficiency that even the Dark Lord himself would have been pleased to see.

"Control first?" Anoxa asked.

Luca shook her head. "We need to split up."

"Split up? That doesn't sound like a good idea," Seraphina said, dodging a blaster bolt and stabbing her blade through a guard's chest.

"It's a terrible idea, but if we go to each place individually then armada could be wiped out by the time we're through. Anoxa and I will take out the bridge, the three of you go to the power core. It's down these stairs to the left and past a couple of hallways; but before you get there you will see the weapons room. Grab some detonators and place them all over the core. Before we detonate it, I want us to meet back at the resurrection chamber. You guys remember where that is from my mental images?"

"Yeah, we couldn't forget it," Kobak assured her.

 _No, we couldn't, could we? Such dark energy haunts that place. It makes me excited just to think about it._

Luca nodded. "May the force be with you."

"And also with you," Vic whispered. The two warriors nodded to each other as they went their separate ways.

Luca and Anoxa moved quickly and quietly now, knowing that the worst of the guards would be up ahead. As they neared the bridge Luca stopped and glanced over her shoulder to Anoxa and explained the plan to her on how they were going to take out the control room. "A kiss for good-?" Anoxa grabbed Luca and pinned her against the wall, lifting her up just a bit as she kissed her deeply and tenderly.

For once Luca was breathless and speechless as Anoxa stared at her with a smile. There was a tenderness that Luca hadn't seen before and Anoxa cupped her face leaving hardly any space between their faces. She had been thinking about it so much, and now among the ruins of their lives she knew that she couldn't let it go for another moment. She didn't know if she loved Luca the way that Luca loved her, but she knew that she wasn't going to live in a world without her either. No one could hold a candle to her Luca."Let's go save the world and when this all over, I'm going to marry you Luca Atari."

"O-okay," Luca mumbled with cheeks that made her entire flesh look ten shades more red. Jumping up onto the air ducts above, she all but disappeared. She had used these ducts to spy on the bridge before, but now she would use them for what she was trained for. Crawling about in the darkness, she counted her paces until she came to an exit duct. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the duct open and jumped from it, and landed upon the captain, slicing him clean in two with her blade. For a brief moment there was silence as no one was expecting a jedi to suddenly show up. Someone reached for the alarm but from behind them a light whip grabbed them and pulled them back into the shadows.

"Let's play," Anoxa whispered to the Sith's ear before she tightened her whip and sliced through him. From that point on it was nothing but chaos. The two Zeltrons seemed to dance among the bridge, working together in perfect unison as their blades slashed through opponents and their combined might in the force devastated any who tried to run. When the last member of the bridge collapsed, all that was left was destruction. Anoxa walked over to the captain's control panel and slammed her lightsaber through it. "The core weapons will be down from here, but we still need to blow this thing to kingdom come."

"Then let's get to the resurrection chamber and end this."

Luca nodded and upon taking Anoxa's hand they hurried out of the bridge.

Vic's vision allowed him to easily bypass guards and security, at least enough to allow Seraphina and Kobak a chance to take them out. Despite what he might have said, transporting them here like this was rather draining on him, but he was going to push through it. When they finally got to the weapon chamber he ran his hands over the equipment. "I have no idea what I'm looking for."

"Thermal detonators," Seraphina said as she opened up a box. "Just like these. We can set them to the generator which will hopefully start a chain explosion that will rip the dreadnaught apart from the inside out."

Kobak reached down and grabbed an armful. "We'll put some on the walls as we go to ensure destruction."

With armfuls of bombs and Vic holding tight to the actual detonator, Seraphina and Kobak began to litter the walls with explosives. As they reached the power core, Vic opened the door just in time to block a lightsaber with his own. The Sith started to shout but Vic lifted him with the force and all but crushed him like a ball as he tossed him away from the others. He was the first one into the power core and all his blades lifted up into the air around him and then quickly flew outward, stabbing into bodies of the Sith lying in wait for them. Pulling his blades back he motioned for Kobak and Seraphina to come in.

Quickly the two of them began to put the bombs on the power core. "Looks like Luca did her homework. By glancing at the computer, this dreadnaught's lines should run throughout the ship, meaning the explosion will funnel through its weakest points. The pressure should be enough to break the ship in half." Seraphina clicked on a few more details before nodding in satisfaction. "This is actually going to work."

"Good. I rather like the idea of something easy for a chance," Vic smiled. When the last one was set the group hurried back from whence they came and then followed Luca's memories to the resurrection chamber. As soon as they arrived they were greeted by the two Zeltrons.

Luca stopped them all and motioned toward the armored doors. "I can get up through the vents and open it from the inside. But once I do be prepared to go for a fight. The priests who guard it are supposed to be pretty powerful. I don't know if they're needed to bring someone back or if the sarcophagus can do it by itself, but I don't want to leave it to chance."

"Then we'll do what we can to ensure no one ever uses it again," Kobak said with a nod. "Even though it might could totally reverse my need for this." He motioned to the symbiote covering him.

 _Oh, I see how it is. Here I thought that we had become friends._

"I don't think it's worth the risk," Anoxa said with worried eyes, afraid the young Jedi might just be tempted to do it.

Kobak met her gaze and smiled. "I won't. I promise. Life isn't perfect, but at least I'm still me. Figuratively at least."

"Then…let's do this." Luca disappeared from sight before anyone could say anything. She crept along the hidden paths until she was above the resurrection chamber. She saw the eight priests knelt beside the sarcophagus praying. Even now she almost shuddered from the feeling of darkness that seemed to lick at like tentacles across her body. Slinking down from her position, she did her best to be absolutely quiet as she moved to the door. Going for the first lock, she undid it and the door hisses. Before she could undo the other locks she felt the hot blade of lightsaber pass by her as she instinctively dodged the attack. Luca twistd back to see the eight priests each with glowing blades advancing toward her. Drawing her tonfa, she twisted it around and dashed through them, trying to separate them so she could fight them.

Anoxa waited impatiently, counting down the seconds. "It's been almost four minutes. She should have the door open by now. I could have sworn I heard it unlock." She pushed at the door but it wouldn't budge. "I'm not waiting anymore." Drawing her light tanto she slammed it into the door, but it immediately shorted out. "Cortosis lined doors? The bastards!" Now she was a bit frantic as she tried to push it open with the force, but once more it barely budged. She banged on it and called out. "Luca!"

"Altogether," Vic said. Each Jedi took a stance and held their hands toward the door. They didn't need patience this time, this time their emotions allowed them the edge they needed. The four jedis using all their mastery of the force pushed at it with such strength that the hinges shattered and the door went flying backward.

A distracted priest didn't move in time as the solid metal door slammed into it, crushing it against the far wall. The Jedi moved into the room, seeing Luca battling the six remaining priests. One laid dead from a light saber wound but the others were encircling her. Luca had a long gash on her side, but she was managing to stay one step ahead of them. Luca dodged and seemed to vanish, flipping over one of the priests to put more room between them and herself. "Took you guys long enough!" She said with a light laugh, but there was obvious relief in her eyes. "These guys are tougher than they look!"

"Leave my girlfriend alone!" Anoxa shouted. Pure light radiated from her once more, bathing the Sith in searing energy which caused them to take a step bath. Anoxa walked toward them, light whip lashing out at the first one and drawing it in close. It lashed at her, breaking free of the lightwhip and lunging at her with its blade. Anoxa was quicker than it though, using her tanto she deflected the Sith saber and managed to gash it across its chest. Anoxa smirked as they clashed again, the Sith moving about and striking at her with quick, precise thrusts aiming for her limbs and vital organs. The quick trusts made it hard for her to use her light whip, and the she couldn't drop her tanto to grab her blaster or risk giving the Sith an opening to hit something important. She had gotten the first hit, but it seemed like the Sith quickly adapted to her technique and found a good counter for her.

Seraphina dove into the fray, pushing forward to a priest who was trying to assault Luca. With a charge of force, she knocked the priest back into the wall as she lunged at him. The two began to enter into a flurry of blows back and forth. Despite the priest using one blade, it seemed to be quick enough to react to Seraphina's attacks which came from every angle. Every move the Seraphina made the priest countered, every time she tried to go for an opening his blade managed to move and deflect it. It was infuriating that she couldn't land a blow on it, that being said, the priest couldn't land one on her either. Their offense and defense were too perfect for them to find a weakness in.

Vic took to the others, grabbing one with the force and ripping its lightsaber out of its hands. He held his hand out and let the light side fuel his lightning which slammed into the chest of the unarmed Sith. The Sith caught the lightning even as it seemed to burn him. "Such power," it whispered and channeled the energy within himself to push it back toward Vic. Soon the two were engaged in a battle of the force as their powers collided in a spectacular fashion. "With the right guidance, you could be great."

"You don't know my power!" Vic shouted and stepped toward the priest. "I am already great!" As much power as he used against the priest, that much was pushed back against him. Vic took another step forward, bringing them closer together as the air between them crackled with their might.

Kobak's tactic was simple; have them strike him and when their lightsaber went out end them. The only problem was that moving was incredibly hard. The symbiote struggled and writhed over his flesh, his body kept twisting toward the sarcophagus as if it was drawing the symbiote to it.

"Focus!" Kobak shouted as he just barely avoided a lightsaber going straight for his face.

 _The sarcophagus, it's too powerful…it's hard to focus. There's too much dark energy, it's overwhelming me!_

"If you want to continue to have a host you will find a way to focus!"

 _I'm trying meatbag! No one will kill my host on my watch!_

Kobak moved his blade up, deflecting another blow. The priest was smart, it didn't both with his armor coating, it seemed to just want his head. Even then, Kobak was wary of the priest's other hand as he felt the force began to emanate from it.

Luca was struggling to catch her breath. At first she thought it was because of the wound maybe she had punctured a lung, but no, it was something else. She was forcing herself to move fast this entire fight. She was constantly having to push herself to go faster, this wasn't just to dodge, this was so she could keep up with the priest in front of her. I didn't seem right. They weren't that fast when she killed the first one. No one was as fast as her, not even Infernis could keep up with her.

Infernis.

What was it Infernis had said to her so long ago about the priests? They couldn't be killed the same way? Something like that. They were mirrors they were- Luca's eyes widened and for a second she was slowed as the priest deflected her saber and lunged at her. Luca disappeared from sight for just a second, pushing her speed fast enough to dodge it, but this time the blade moved faster toward her. That was it! She put everything she had into deflecting it with her tonfa, but this time as soon as she did she ignited her left fist with fire and slammed it into the priest's face. There was a scream from the priest as it stopped for just a second, but that was all Luca needed. Stretching her left hand out, she used the force to trip the priest, causing it to fall backward and in that split second she slammed her saber down onto its face. "Switch opponents!" Luca yelled, back flipping out of the way of the other priest that came after her.

The others didn't know what was going on, but they had learned not to ask. Not a word was spoken, they just reacted. Anoxa kicked at the priest with her robotic leg, stumbling it just a bit to free her to use her whip. Her blade passed by the one she was fighting and pulled at the arm of the priest fighting Seraphina. With a quick tug she pulled that priest to her. Seraphina in turn jumped at Anoxa's priest. The priest turned around and thrust its blade at Seraphina, the same way it had Anoxa, but Seraphina back handed the blade away with her first saber and plunged her other saber into its chest.

Anoxa likewise quickly realized that her opponent was no match for her. It went to block her tanto, but its quick movements were too rigid to counter her whip which passed by its defense and with a flick of her wrist managed to sever its head from its body.

Vic grunted as he faced down his priest. He turned to look at Kobak but something was wrong. Kobak wasn't moving now; his head was turned away from his opponent toward something else. Vic followed his gaze toward the sarcophagus which was opening up. Kobak's priest pushed the lid open with the force and the symbiote screeched as waves of pure darkness flooded over it.

The symbiote rippled over Kobak, its screech deafening the young Jedi and its form shooting out around him like tendrils struggling to leave his flesh. "Make it stop!" Kobak yelled.

Anoxa looked back to Kobak who was fighting through the pain and shouted to him. The symbiote had moved off enough of his body to expose an opening and the priest plunged his saber toward it.

"No!" Vic was the closest one, the only one who could react in time. "You will not hurt my friends!" His lightning stopped from his priest and slammed into Kobak's priest, the force of which seemed to vaporize the priest completely. Kobak froze; his eyes slowly traveling over to Vic who smiled at him even as his opponent's lightning began to engulf him.

"Vic!" Seraphina seemed to fly across the room, slashing through the priest, tearing him to pieces with her blades. Its body hit the ground the same time that Vic's did.

Kobak watched in horror as Vic's body crumbled to the ground and Seraphina reached down to pick up his charred frame. Everything seemed so slow to him. He watched as Anoxa stood there unable to move, he watched as Luca battled the last remaining priest. His body moved on its own, fighting through the pain as he came up behind the priest and grabbed its head, smashing it into the wall with all the force of the symbiote he could muster.

Luca stumbled backward, breathing heavily and holding her wounded side. "Thank you," she mouthed, too out of breath to say the words, too afraid to break the silence which had fallen over everyone. All eyes moved to Vic and Seraphina.

"D-did we do it?" Vic asked, wincing in pain. Everything hurt and yet nothing hurt, it was the worst possible sensation he had ever imagined. The lightning had burnt away most of his flesh and left a gaping wound in his chest. He could feel himself weakening with every breath, each one shallower than the one before and each one filled with more pain that he ever thought possible.

"Yes you idiot, they're dead," Seraphina whispered as she bit back tears. "Anoxa, you can heal him right? Right!?"

Anoxa snapped out of her daze and quickly moved toward her friend. She reached own for him and pressed her hand to him, nearly throwing up as his flesh seemed to crumble beneath her touch. "There's so much damage."

"Then fix it!"

"Seraphina, we'd have to get him to a ship. Get him to the masters. Maybe…maybe with a bacta tank we could."

"There's not enough time for that," Vic told them. "I have to send you back. Have to send you back to the masters."

"You're too weak to send us! We have to get a ship!"

Vic shook his head. His hand shook violently as he reached into his burnt robes and pulled out the detonator switch which had gotten activated in the attack. The five minute charge was already counting down.

"The bombs are active. In five minutes this place is going to be nothing but rubble," Kobak said. "We can't make it to the ships in time."

"We find a way! We can't leave without him! There has to be a way there has to-" Seraphina eyed the sarcophagus. "A way to revive him."

Vic's hand came up over hers. "No. Please…no."

"But it could save you!"

"It corrupts whatever is put in there. It corrupted Infernis, it would corrupt me."

"You've returned from the dark side once before."

"I did it for you."

"Then you could do it again!" Seraphina cried. "Please don't leave me!"

Vic tried to smile, but it hurt too much. "I love you. I love all of you. If I have to die, let me die a Jedi. Let me die being the hero."

"I won't leave you! I won't!" Seraphina's heart was breaking and death would be a mercy compared to what she was feeling now. If she could cut out her heart to save herself this pain she would, and yet she knew that she couldn't do it to Vic, she couldn't bring him back as a monster and lose the only man that she ever loved.

"You will, because the world still needs you. The world still needs heroes, and you guys are the best heroes I know. Now please…I don't have much left in me. So please, get close."

Luca and Anoxa held hands, each one of them unable to hold by the tears in their eyes. Kobak stared down at him, his hand clutching his heart. "Take the symbiote, you deserve it. It's because of me that-"

"No. No. No. All of you, just…no. No tears. No sadness. Soon, I will be one with the force and one with all of you. You are the best friends a guy could ever have and you-" He caressed Seraphina's face. "You have made this life worth living." He was too weak to lean up and kiss her, and quite frankly too wounded for it to feel good but he didn't care. He forced himself up for one last kiss. "I will always love you." Before anyone else could react the four of them felt the cold rush wash over them and they were back on the bridge of the ship in the midst of combat.

"Raise the shields!" Luca shouted as she looked back to the masters, her vision stained with tears and her ears deafened by the sound of Seraphina's scream.

Vic laid on the ground of the dreadnaught and used what was left of his connection of the force to bring his lightsaber to him. He ran his hand over its metal frame and across the words he had etched into it. "Focus on what matters to you most. Focus on anger and you will lose what matters to you the most." He closed his eyes and thought of his friends. Of Anoxa, the sweet destroyer of Sith who loved everyone and never let the darkness touch her. Luca, the tiniest and scariest person in the universe, who sacrificed her honor for her friends. Kobak, the wounded warrior, who despite being marked by darkness never lost himself amidst it all. Seraphina, the guardian of his heart, the bookworm who taught him more about life than he ever thought possible. "I protected what matters most to me." His lips cracked a smile as he closed his eyes and the detonator went to zero. "All too easy."

Explosions rocked from the core igniting the vessel from the inside out. From the bridge the Jedi watched as the dreadnaught began to crack and then explode, its massive frame collapsing before them. With the dreadnaught destroyed and their captains loss amidst the chaos, the Jedi and Sith together moved to strike down the remnants of Infernis's army. The fragmented remains were swiftly destroyed, and with that defeat a new era of peace would finally dawn in the galaxy.

It was a peace that was was earned through the sacrifice of the young, the loss of innocence, and the loss of life.


	12. Epilogue

Epilogue

A solitary figure stood on the bridge and tired eyes watched a space battle commence before her. How many had she seen in her life? It didn't matter what the answer was, it was too many. Two mechanical hands rested calmly on the hilts of her sabers. She could feel him, even before the door opened she knew he was coming. Slowly the figure turned, brown hair with hints of gray tied back in a bun, and the traditional robes of a Jedi Master adorned her frame. A few wrinkles formed as she smiled at the young knight who raced toward her.

"He's breached the interior! He's coming straight for the bridge!" the young Zabrak said, breathless and afraid. She couldn't blame him, this new generation had been saved from the horrors of her youth, and yet it seemed as if history was repeating itself once more. Were they forever doomed to live in this cycle of death and betrayal?

"I know young one, let him come," she said calmly yet firmly.

"But Grandmaster Seraphina!"

She held up her hand. "Go, protect the young ones. Leave Darth Infernis to me. " Seraphina nodded for the young man to leave as she began to walk down the steps to the entrance. No sooner did she reach level ground than a dark cloaked figure stepped through the open door.

"After all this time," Seraphina whispered, her eyes on the figure narrowing in a look of distrust and disbelief. "You finally come to face me."

"I did not come for you," the booming voice replied and she felt a wave of heat wash over her. "I came for the other one. I came for-"

"For Master Kobak, I know," she said and cut him off completely. "And he and the symbiote you desire are far away from here. It seems that you failed in this adventure." She took another step toward Darth Infernis. "I feared for this moment, from the very moment we couldn't find the sarcophagus. I knew in my heart this day would come. So many have died because of what I did, but you… You have done so much more. It seems that the name Infernis will forever live on to haunt a new generation. You blew up Zeltros and for what? To kill two women who were no longer Jedi? Why? Because you feared their power. You feared her."

"I fear no one!" he shouted and she could feel a wave of dark force ripple the air, denting the walls with a mere flex of his hand.

"Good. Because even with blowing up a planet you still missed."

From the shadows behind her two figures emerged. One short with shoulder length blue hair, her body adorned in form fitting black combat gear, a deactivated tonfa saber in her right hand and a light pinkish scar around her jaw. Her amber eyes seemed to shine brilliantly, piercing through the figure who took a small step back. Luca didn't say a word, but she wasn't smiling. While her face still held the child like features she had always managed to hold onto, there was a hardness there that had been worn into her over time. She had left to find herself, to find who she was without violence and death looming over, she had left for love, and yet a part of her continually called her out from her lover's bed to lash out at those who would hurt others, driving a wedge between her and the woman she loved.

Beside her was her other half, wearing tight white leather of her trade, her pink hair laid over her slim face which time seemed not to touch. Her eyes held sadness in them, deep and profound. She had turned away from the order once more, when the war had ended. She had hoped for a happy life with her beloved, away from everything and yet the scars of their youth drove the other half of her heart away from her. With those wounds she suffered in silence until she had ventured out and tracked her down several light years away from their home. They had been reconciling their relationship when Zeltros was destroyed. It was at that moment she knew they would never escape. That moment that lead her to this as she was stepping back onto a ship she had hoped to forget to fight a war that would never end.

The two of them stepped up beside Seraphina, the one who had stayed. With the loss of Vic, she lost a desire to see the stars and instead devoted her life to creating hope for the future. She had taken the solemn vows and pledged herself wholly and deeply to the order. She had seen the war through the eyes of the child and was raised up to respect life more because she knew it was so fleeting. As such she had worked hard to ensure peace, to ensure the safety of not just the order and its members but the entire galaxy. So much had been lost, and yet now she was sacrificing more… and for what? A fleeting peace which was so fragile that a single uttered work could break it. She was tired, so very tired. She closed her eyes, wondering if sending Kobak away was a good idea. It was to keep him safe, to keep everyone safe, for she knew if Infernis got the symbiote he would be even stronger, still she doubted herself. Beside her she felt a small hand rest against her shoulder and she caught the familiar scent of Zeltron pheromones fill her nose and she couldn't help but to smile. Opening her eyes there was a light there, an unbreakable resolution that was stronger than any Sith before. She had her friends here, friends that she had never lost touch with over these long years. She had learned to be strong without them, but now with them here, she knew there was nothing that they could not to.

"We returned here, because we know what we have to do." Seraphina activated her twin purple sabers and beside her Luca's yellow blade shone brightly as Anoxa's whip and tanto's brilliant pink glow emanated beside her. When their blades activated, the figure before them lifted his one arm and ten black blades rose up behind the Sith lord and activated all at once.

"Welcome home, Vic," Seraphina whispered.


End file.
